GUEST WRITER: The Black Rooster
Joel and I were saying how we both think that human cloning is a good idea for several reasons. I believe that the human race will grow stronger, smarter and more capable with human cloning. Recently there was a scientific discovery, which showed that “generosity†is in fact a gene. That is, people who posses this gene will be more generous and giving than people who don’t posses this gene. Obviously the environment you grew up in will affect that gene as well. For example if someone possesses that gene and grew up in the West Bank or was a Jew during the Nazi regime, where his possessions are being taken and destroyed on a daily basis then chances are that person, who does posses that gene may not be as generous because he had been taught to protect and collect his personal belongings. At the same time, someone who does not possess that gene, but grew up in an environment where his parents where generous people who helped others then chances are that person will be somewhat generous as well. However the point is that when generosity is a gene, and someone possesses it then chances are that person will be more giving than a person who doesn’t posses it. Now you may ask what is the purpose of this? Well, this illustrates that most likely, many human traits are in fact genes that are passed down to us from our parents and ancestors. Traits such as jealousy, anger, hate, happiness, depression etc. Now, please keep in mind that I am over simplifying things, but what if it was possible to remove these “bad†genes with human cloning. What if we were capable of removing hate, anger and other negative traits of human beings in our future generations? Our history has shown us that the reason that humans have killed each other in millions throughout history has been because of ignorance, hate and greed. Now you may say that greed has served us well so far. It has advanced our medicine, science and many other fields. I would agree with that but the fact remains that it has been “personal greed†that has advanced our society. People’s personal greed has forced them to advance in something, create something or discover something in order to benefit from that discovery or creation whether financially, emotionally or physically. You may think well there is nothing wrong with this, if someone invents something that benefits society then he should benefit from it as well. Well that is true, he should and there is nothing wrong with that but what happens when someone like Alfred Nobel invents the dynamite. Alfred Nobel had personal greed and wanted to become wealthy, he was a brilliant scientist and managed to become a millionaire in his time by inventing the dynamite. He definitely benefited from inventing the dynamite, but did our society in general or the human race? Personal greed makes people invent bigger, stronger and more effective weapons, which is used to kill thousands of people on a daily basis. Traits such as anger, jealousy, hate and greed is the main reason for crime in a society and on a larger scale, genocide and war. Now what if personal greed was replaced with “collective greed� That is, the human race realizes that if we join forces and strive for the improvement and advancement of the human race then everyone is a winner. What if Alfred Nobel had collective greed? What would he have invented?
Perhaps with human cloning, we can create smarter and more capable humans that realize that our world today needs some dramatic changes to it. If negative traits are removed from humans then there is no need to spend all this energy, time and money on our armies and our defense. Because we no longer hate or fear our neighbor and realize that he is just another human being like the rest of us no matter race, religion or sexual orientation.
Even if we can’t “erase†the bad traits with human cloning we sure can create smarter and stronger humans. This in turn will naturally erase ignorance, hate and fear from people. I don’t think there is a single parent out there who wouldn’t wish to have the “perfect childâ€. You are basically taking the best genes from both partners and creating a “superbaby.†This is the equivalent of having the mother give birth one million times and one of them would perhaps be born with these super qualities. I don’t see anything wrong with giving nature a helping hand in order to advance the human race.
You also essentially eliminate your own value compared to future generations. As the ability to modify the genetic code of an individual grows, the newer models are in higher demand then the old ones. Dealing with a naturally aging society, where health, strength, and relevant training are determinants, we already face numerous problems of what to do with useless old folks. Social Security, Medicare, etc, are built around the need to support them.
And if we can build a faster computer every year, why not a human? By the time a child reaches viable adulthood, they might already be on the downward curve of their usefulness.
Our flaws, our hates, our fears, as well as our ignorances, are what defines our societies and civilizations. Remove them all and we are simply another technology.