Stefan MolyneuxVerified account

It's going to make some of us dead or marked as less than from childhood thanks to narrow definitions of intelligence. This is eugenics, not helpful for those of us seeking a more just, compassionate and richer world. We have different definitions of richer, obviously.

We're unfortunately getting dumber and dumber by the year, as IQ is negatively correlated with fertility. If we don't find a way to stop or reverse this trend, we run the risk of perpetual intellectual and technological stagnation (perhaps at a lower level than our current one).

Meanwhile we're exhausting natural resources - our ability to sustain our civilisation and standards of living relies on us inventing new technologies to either use other resources and/or recycle currently used resources.

We're in a race against time, and intelligence is our engine. If we do nothing to reverse the trend towards lower average intelligence, we run the risk of civilisational collapse, or of having a violent reaction through authoritarian, coercive eugenics (1930s Germany style).

Intelligence does not equal success.. can your test measure true indicators of success: perseverance, drive, grit, coachability, honesty, etc....

I can easily see how (with the right cultural shift) gene editing would lead to women demanding that new males be genetically modified for superior intellect and physique, due to hypergamy plus the effort to do what is in the best interest to ensure that one's child succeeds.

In the year 6565

old song... ;)

Nah, it's gonna make the rich intelligent.

Yes but it will get to the poor. Every technology that improves an individuals efficiency starts with the rich, e.g. smartphones, but like this example, eventually the technology gets cheaper and eventually everyone has access to it.

Genetic engineering is too powerful a science to be left to market forces to regulate. If it is to benefit anyone, it must benefit everyone, or its power will be abused. It is also potentially dangerous for the planet.

I do agree that such a technology would need some amount of regulation but I’m also wary of giving powers to government. If given to a government I can very easily imagine a world where government makes a population docile and malleable by modifying the genetics of the next gen.