We're mixing several things together here: (1) picking a mate because you like them (2) wanting your kids to inherit some of the things you like about them (3) believing in objectively "good" traits (the "eu" in "eugenics") that you're deliberately "breeding for" in your kids
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Replying to @vjpsyverson @humbug1994 and
He’s not mixing any of those things
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Replying to @RafFaithfull @humbug1994 and
Your hypothetical: "If a woman wants to have babies with the smartest and most attractive man she can find..." I'm trying to extract the reason why. Some of the reasons seem to me like they'd conceivably be creepy; others, not. That's what I'm trying to unmix.
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Replying to @vjpsyverson @RafFaithfull and
"Eugenics" is a CONSCIOUS BELIEF SYSTEM It's not a general description of things that happen in the world, and by diluting it down like that you're engaging in Scott's favorite fallacy, the motte-and-bailey fallacy
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Replying to @arthur_affect @vjpsyverson and
Moreover, the statement that "everyone engages in eugenics *whether or not they know it*" is itself an expression of the eugenicist belief system and therefore not falsifiable except by falsifying eugenics itself
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Replying to @arthur_affect @vjpsyverson and
It's like a Christian saying "Even the unbelievers in their perversity give glory to God" It's vacuous nonsense
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Replying to @arthur_affect @vjpsyverson and
If I actually took your assertion seriously then *everything* is eugenics and "dysgenics" does not exist The human brain is an evolved, deterministic system like everything else in the world and all of it is just evolution working itself out, including me saying I'm against it
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Replying to @arthur_affect @vjpsyverson and
So then what's the point of arguing about it What's the point of seeking "eugenic" policy, all policy is equally eugenic because it's all the result of actions taken by evolved organisms Come on, this is lazy dorm room debate garbage
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Replying to @arthur_affect @vjpsyverson and
The definition of "eugenics" relies on the "eu-" The belief that there is such a thing as a generally applicable definition of "good genes", and then *acting* on that belief by having a policy preference that "good genes" be propagated and "bad genes" be eliminated
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Replying to @arthur_affect @vjpsyverson and
Yes there are traits that are genetic that display fitness, and are thus desirable. Height for men, hourglass shape for women.
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