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Basically, scientists and doctors can select a group of eggs, inject them with sperm, and then select which of the children does the parent want.  With that principle in mind, researchers have a similar process that can change some aesthetical traits of the children (I think they have skin shades and hair colour at 80% accuracy).  Should this go further?  Should we limit it to some extent?  Or should we banish it completely?

My view:  To an extent, we can allow the parents to dictate the child's features.  However, modifying the child's genes beyond disease-related genes and aesthetical genes is unacceptable, as that is synonymous to "breeding" in humans.  That would be very unfair to poor populations, and it would allow groups of people to produce "superhumans".  I'm not saying that it would result in a dystopian society, but we would be KO'd by other countries with better overall manpower.

Thik of Gataca, if you ever watched that movie. That is the answer to your question. 

Wait until the technology is perfected.

Go back in time.

Genetically modify yourself before you're born.

Congratulations, you have just made yourself a super human.

Prevent the technology from ever being made.

Rule the world.

Perfect trolling right there.

You're going to make me start shouting about how that would create a paradox. My brain is already starting to churn.

Don't be like Charlie Gordon.  His brain sorta churned before he expired.  (From flowers for algernon)

But that was from experimentation, he wasn't naturally that smart so the enhanced working of his brain just kinda finished him. Well, it doesn't say he died, but since he turned out slightly less intelligent than he was, I just kinda assumed he would retrogress into a potato. 

Actually if you believe in parallel worlds, a paradox won't really happen as he would just create a parallel world where he was born a genetically modified super human and his current self will either stay because of that or cease to exist? Wait, the latter part would most probably be the paradox part.

(Alvin, you just enraged the beast)

even if we follow the multi-verse theory, it wouldnt work since it would need time travel to activate, which is automatically a paradox in itself. 

If you made a universe vanish, it would be as if it never happened, which would cause all the reactions in the multiverses to vanish as well, ending all the universes at once.

I don't get how time travel is a paradox itself. If you think of it this way, let's say the past you return is not the world you once live in but another parallel world where you end up that is exactly the same as you remember or once experience it except you are now in it, it wouldn't really be a paradox, would it?

Time travel creates a void in which one universe has an action that changes the past or future. Thus, the you in the past will never need to fix the past, and then will screw up everything. 

A future time travel isn't a paradox except if you know what you are going to do and change it, you create a paradox. 

Wouldn't it also create another world where you did affect the original (Something like a copy) but the Original did get change.

Like for example, I went back to kill my great grand dad. This causes two world to emerge. One which is a copy of the same world that I came from - A world where my great grand dad was not killed and all - and the other where I cease to exist?

What is a paradox again?

That would create a paradox of a world in which you have no need of killing your grandpa, thus making that worl a paradox, and destroying everything. 

Google it for the real explanation, but a paradox is simply when you do something that causes itself to have never been done. "The next sentence is true. The previous sentence is false."

Sounds a bit like Hitler's attempt at getting back to a perfected Aryan race minus the genocide. 

Honestly, I don't think 'breeding' humans is a bad thing. People do it all the time and have been since the dawn of the human race. Look at Sparta for example. But, instead of going off appearance and killing the 'failed ' babies from the pairings, these scientists would simply be able to get it right the first time every time. I mean, let's face it. We all are guilty of looking at someone and thinking 'Holy crap, if this guy and that girl got together they would have beautiful children!' even though said people may not even know each other. 

Realistically though who would be able to afford that sort of procedure? 

Apple is breeding super soldiers as we speak, to strengthen its army of Chinese slaves and mind control devices.

And then the Chinese became too intelligent to be controlled and they devise a machine to reverse the mind control procedure and control the higher ups instead. :Asian:

Wait, so if I start researching this extensively right now, I could create a pair of superhumans, kill of the rest of humanity with a super-virus I've developed and have those two become the next step in human evolution?

I didn't realize humanity was this close to it. If I did, I certainly wouldn't have Homo Perfectus 1 take place in 2060.

Theoretically yes, but there would be some... inbreeding issues with only having two people to repopulate with. So your super humans could potentially a superhuman version of the Ostrich people(a third world village where the people don't marry outside of the tribe and the inbreeding has caused a genetic foot deformity looking like an Ostrich foot) But, maybe with the super human part to even it out they could also grow wings? :P

I think you need at least 50 couple or was it 50 people with equal male and female to repopulate the world without incest.

I keep imagining the Hills have Eyes and another movie I just saw an ad for... I think it was called Inbred or Inbreed.... something along those lines? 

Not to mention a movie that is supposed to come out(it may already have) called Thale. But, it's Norwegian so I'll have to wait til it's released with sub titles to watch it, but it looks awesome. 

Found the trailer for Inbred

 

I don't think its cool to have designer children. You see, its the flaws and good that make this world beautiful. Imagine a world full of beautiful girls and dashing boys. A world with zombies is much better!! Imagine people ordering their babies like they order their meal. 140 IQ. Green, but not much, eyes. Auburn hairs. And yes, pretty athletic and algile. Divine voice. Fair... . Lololol... (that would be crazy)

Agreed. It's the imperfection in humans that makes them humans. Or so I like to think.

Eh, you can design physical stuff all you want, possibly even intelligence. But, personality is something developed after birth through growth and living life. There are plenty of intelligent people considered ugly and beautiful people considered horrible. thoughts and the soul cannot be genetically altered.

Honestly, I do agree though. If this became something that people actually did, the human race would be reduced to purebreeds and mutts. We'd just be carefully bred dogs with so called higher intelligence, all bred for specific traits. Only instead of 'breeding' they would just go in manipulate the genes in the fetal stages. -_-

Actually, personality is part genetics and part experience. Experience really guides how the personality in the genetics develops.

Sure, but experience can change even the part of our personality which was created by genetics. A person is born innocent, they may grow up kind because they have always been that way. And maybe they have a hot tempered nature from their mother's side. But, anyone can have that changed. All it takes is one experience to overthrow that gene. It can be a guide, but experience can also destroy what used to be there and replace it with something entirely different. Willpower can also change a gene. Even a dog can be born and bred to fight, but without the experience of the fight and the willpower to engage in it. It's just another dog. 

The only reason I would be against this (other then gattaca) would be since we would never reach the end, and we would lose our self image. I disagree with the idea that imperfection makes us beautiful. That's why we constantly look for the perfect girl, guy. We constantly look to improve our looks, using photoshop and other image fixers. 

If we attempt to become perfect, we will lose ourselves to an endless search for perfection. Which will make everyone unsatisfied, and we will stop looking for humans, but rather pictures to mate with. (which is already happening)

Welcome to internet dating site #83296525type-B thanks and come again.

Cyber Babies?

anywho, I'd like it. If I can make my children any way I want to from conception, I could finally fulfill Stalin's dreams of Gorilla-human hybrid soldiers. And who wants to disappoint Stalin? Not me.

lol I remember that on the history channel, they injected gorilla semen into humans and such. Crazy ass Soviets. 

Hey, they might not be the best scientists, but they definitely know how to make a great night.

O_O Yep... there goes my appetite for dinner...