Human
Genetic Improvement
Quotes from
leading thinkers:
Men
are generally more careful of the breed of their horses and dogs than of their
children.
William
Penn. Some fruits of solitude, in reflections and maxims relating to the
conduct of human life. 1693
It
does not, however, seem impossible that by an attention to breed, a certain
degree of improvement, similar to that among animals, might take place among
men. Whether intellect could be communicated may be a matter of doubt: but
size, strength, beauty, complexion, and perhaps even longevity are in a degree
transmissible... As the human race could not be improved in this way, without
condemning all the bad specimens to celibacy, it is not probable, that an
attention to breed should ever become general.
T.
R. Malthus. An Essay on Population. 1798
Man
scans with scrupulous care the character and pedigree of his horses, cattle,
and dogs before he matches them; but when he comes to his own marriage he
rarely, or never, takes such care. ... Yet he might by selection do
something not only for the bodily constitution and frame of his offspring, but
for their intellectual and moral qualities.
Charles
Darwin. The Descent of Man. 1871
A
majority of the community would probably also admit today that the physical
characters of man are inherited with practically the same intensity as the like
characters in cattle and horses. But few, however ..., apply the results which
flow from such acceptance to their own conduct in life.
Karl
Pearson. On the Laws of Inheritance in Man (Biometrika 3:131) 1904
We
can set no limit to human potentialities; all that is best in man can be
bettered... The ordinary social reformer sets out with a belief that no
environment can be too good for humanity; it is without contradicting this,
that the eugenist may add that man can never be too good for his
environment.
R.A.
Fisher. Some Hopes of a Eugenist (Eugenics Review 5:309) 1914
The
eugenic conscience is in need of development, and it is only when it becomes
thoroughly aroused in the rank and file of society as well as among the
leaders, that a permanent and increasing betterment of mankind can be expected.
Herbert
Eugene Walter. Genetics. 1924
Galton’s
eccentric, sceptical, observing, flashing, cavalry-leader type of mind led him
eventually to become the founder of the most important, significant and, I
would add, genuine branch of sociology which exists, namely eugenics.
John
Maynard Keynes. Eugenics Review. 1946
Theoretically
it would be one of the greatest triumphs of mankind, one of the most
compassionate liberations from natural bondage to which we are subject, were it
possible to raise the responsible act of procreation to a level of voluntary
and intentional behavior, and to free this act from its entanglement with our
indispensable satisfaction of a natural desire.
Sigmund
Freud. Collected Works. 1948
When
one considers how much the world owes to single individuals of the order of
capability of an Einstein, Pasteur, Descartes, Leonardo, or Lincoln, it becomes
evident how vastly society would be enriched if they were to be manifolded...
Later generations will look with amazement at the pitifully small amount
of research now being carried on to open up such possibilities, even though for
years specialists have realized that they lie just around the corner... It
is quite evident that we could benefit indefinitely by a continued increase in
our mental powers: to enable us to analyze more profoundly; to recognize more
readily common features when they lie deeply buried; to grasp more and more
elements of a situation at once and co-ordinately; to see more steps ahead; to
think more multidimensionally; and to imagine more creatively... If we hold
fast to our ideal, then evolution will become, for the first time, a conscious
process... That will be the highest form of freedom that man, or life, can
have.
Hermann
J. Muller. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 3:1. 1959
The
pioneers of Eugenic Insemination by Donor... will be accused of mortal sin, of
theological impropriety, of immoral and unnatural practices. But they can take
heart from what has happened in the field of birth control, and can be
confident that the rational control of reproduction aimed at the prevention of
human suffering and frustration and the promotion of human well-being and
fulfillment will in the not too distant future come to be recognized as a moral
imperative.
Julian
Huxley. Eugenics Review 54:123. 1963
My
own first conclusion is that the technology of human genetics is pitifully
clumsy, even by the standards of practical agriculture.
Joshua
Lederburg. Biological Future of Man. 1963
Natural
selection must be replaced by eugenical artificial selection. This idea
constitutes the sound core of eugenics, the applied science of human
betterment.
Theodosius
Dobzhansky. Heredity and the Nature of Man. 1964
...
impregnation will be regarded in an entirely different manner, more in the
light of a surgical operation, so that it will be thought not ladylike to have
it performed in the natural manner.
Bertrand
Russell. The Scientific Outlook. 1972
Although
we are all playing a game of genetic roulette, there is no reason that we
should not provide greater scrutiny over sperm donations.
J.
K. Anderson. Genetic Engineering. 1982
The
mystery of birth and of the transmission of characteristics from parent to
offspring has always intrigued the human mind. ... It would be tempting now to
ask geneticists to evolve better human beings. But who will decide what is
better?
Indira
Gandhi. XV International Congress of Genetics. 1983
A 10-page
essay on human genetic improvement:
Proposal
for Human Progeny Testing. Paul VanRaden. 1985
A poem
about mixed race marriages:
Crossbred
Pedigree. Paul VanRaden
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