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Thread: Stephen Hawking feared genetic engineering would create 'super humans'

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    Stephen Hawking feared genetic engineering would create 'super humans'

    Stephen Hawking feared genetic engineering would create ‘superhumans’

    https://metro.co.uk/2018/10/14/steph...umans-8036193/

    Professor Stephen Hawking feared a new race of ‘superhumans’ could destroy the rest of humanity if genetic engineering continued unabated.The scientist died in March but left a collection of articles which outlined his concerns about the future of the human race.In his final book In Brief Answers to the Big Questions, out on Tuesday, Professor Hawking states that he fears wealthy people will begin to edit their own and their children’s DNA to create ‘superhumans’ who will be more intelligent and live longer.

    He wrote: ‘Once superhumans appear, there will be significant political problems with unimproved humans who will be unable to compete.


    ‘Presumably, they will die out, or become unimportant. Instead there will be a race of self-designing beings who are improving at an ever-increasing rate.’He predicted that even if laws were passed to kerb genetic engineering there would always be people prepared to break any rules which would spark the rise of superhumans.



    We are all brothers and sisters in humanity. We are all made from the same dust of stars. We cannot be separated because all life is interconnected.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Just AnotherPerson View Post
    <div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><span style="font-family: ScoutLight"><font size="5">Stephen Hawking feared genetic engineering would create ‘superhumans’</font></span></font></div><font size="5"><br>
    </font><div style="text-align: left;"><font color="#000000"><span style="font-family: ScoutLight"><font size="4"><a href="https://metro.co.uk/2018/10/14/stephen-hawking-feared-genetic-engineering-would-create-superhumans-8036193/" target="_blank">https://metro.co.uk/2018/10/14/stephen-hawking-feared-genetic-engineering-would-create-superhumans-8036193/</a></font><br>
    </span></font><br>
    <font color="#000000"><span style="font-family: ScoutLight"><font size="4">Professor Stephen Hawking feared a new race of ‘superhumans’ could destroy the rest of humanity if genetic engineering continued unabated.The scientist died in March but left a collection of articles which outlined his concerns about the future of the human race.In his final book In Brief Answers to the Big Questions, out on Tuesday, Professor Hawking states that he fears wealthy people will begin to edit their own and their children’s DNA to create ‘superhumans’ who will be more intelligent and live longer.</font></span></font><br>
    <font color="#000000"><span style="font-family: ScoutLight"><br>
    </span></font><font color="#000000"><span style="font-family: ScoutLight"><font size="4">He wrote: ‘Once superhumans appear, there will be significant political problems with unimproved humans who will be unable to compete.</font></span></font><font color="#000000"><span style="font-family: ScoutLight"><br>
    </span></font><font color="#000000"><span style="font-family: ScoutLight"><br>
    <font size="4"><br>
    ‘Presumably, they will die out, or become unimportant. Instead there will be a race of self-designing beings who are improving at an ever-increasing rate.’He predicted that even if laws were passed to kerb genetic engineering there would always be people prepared to break any rules which would spark the rise of superhumans.</font></span></font><font color="#000000"><span style="font-family: ScoutLight"><font size="4"><br>
    </font></span></font><font color="#000000"><span style="font-family: ScoutLight"><br>
    </span></font><font color="#000000"><span style="font-family: ScoutLight"><br>
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    Not to mention machines. Sometimes the sci-fi that seemed the craziest 40 years ago becomes the most real threat 40 years from now! ( Real Sci-Fi like Asimov , not SCI-FI channel crap) Genetic engineering also begs the questions.If everyone is drop dead gorgeous is anyone drop dead gorgeous.? If everyone is strong and healthy is anyone strong and healthy? If everyone is a genius is anyone a genius?
    Last edited by donttread; 10-14-2018 at 08:19 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Just AnotherPerson View Post
    Stephen Hawking feared genetic engineering would create ‘superhumans’

    https://metro.co.uk/2018/10/14/steph...umans-8036193/

    Professor Stephen Hawking feared a new race of ‘superhumans’ could destroy the rest of humanity if genetic engineering continued unabated.The scientist died in March but left a collection of articles which outlined his concerns about the future of the human race.In his final book In Brief Answers to the Big Questions, out on Tuesday, Professor Hawking states that he fears wealthy people will begin to edit their own and their children’s DNA to create ‘superhumans’ who will be more intelligent and live longer.

    He wrote: ‘Once superhumans appear, there will be significant political problems with unimproved humans who will be unable to compete.


    ‘Presumably, they will die out, or become unimportant. Instead there will be a race of self-designing beings who are improving at an ever-increasing rate.’He predicted that even if laws were passed to kerb genetic engineering there would always be people prepared to break any rules which would spark the rise of superhumans.



    Wow just I sure messed up your quote in my post, sorry about that and clueless as to how it happened as well

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    Quote Originally Posted by donttread View Post
    Wow just I sure messed up your quote in my post, sorry about that and clueless as to how it happened as well
    I thought it was awesome
    We are all brothers and sisters in humanity. We are all made from the same dust of stars. We cannot be separated because all life is interconnected.

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    Rather that the super-humans killing the normals, I expect they would exploit and or enslave them. Someone has to do the dirty and mundane work.
    ΜOΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ


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    This all sounds like the human engineering Progressives pursued around the turn of the 20th century: Eugenics: Progressivism’s Ultimate Social Engineering. And borrowed by the Nazis: Was Nazi eugenics created in the US?, Eugenics and the Nazis -- the California connection.
    Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire. ― Gustav Mahler

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    Qui custodiet ipsos custodes?

    Quote Originally Posted by Chris View Post
    This all sounds like the human engineering Progressives pursued around the turn of the 20th century: Eugenics: Progressivism’s Ultimate Social Engineering. And borrowed by the Nazis: Was Nazi eugenics created in the US?, Eugenics and the Nazis -- the California connection.
    No, it goes back much further. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics

    "Eugenics (/juːˈdʒɛnɪks/; from Greek εὐγενής eugenes 'well-born' from εὖ eu, 'good, well' and γένος genos, 'race, stock, kin')[2][3] is a set of beliefs and practices that aims at improving the genetic quality of a human population.[4][5] The exact definition of eugenics has been a matter of debate since the term was coined by Francis Galton in 1883. The concept predates this coinage, with Plato suggesting applying the principles of selective breeding to humans around 400 BCE.…

    "A major criticism of eugenics policies is that, regardless of whether "negative" or "positive" policies are used, they are susceptible to abuse because the criteria of selection are determined by whichever group is in political power at the time. Furthermore, negative eugenics in particular is considered by many to be a violation of basic human rights, which include the right to reproduction. Another criticism is that eugenic policies eventually lead to a loss of genetic diversity, resulting in inbreeding depression due to lower genetic variation."

    "Frederick Osborn's 1937 journal article "Development of a Eugenic Philosophy"[6] framed it as a social philosophy—that is, a philosophy with implications for social order. That definition is not universally accepted. Osborn advocated for higher rates of sexual reproduction among people with desired traits (positive eugenics), or reduced rates of sexual reproduction and sterilization of people with less-desired or undesired traits (negative eugenics). …

    "While eugenic principles have been practiced as far back in world history as ancient Greece, the modern history of eugenics began in the early 20th century when a popular eugenics movement emerged in the United Kingdom[8] and spread to many countries including the United States, Canada[9] and most European countries. In this period, eugenic ideas were espoused across the political spectrum."

    (My emphasis - more @ the URL)

    Negative eugenics was all the rage @ the point that Caucasian nations noticed how many more non-Caucasians than Caucasians there are in the World. There was an accompanying concern that Caucasian nations were becoming soft & effete, & so on - the rationale for inventing football & instituting it @ the US collegiate level. This also played to the concern for our young men to be manly, go out West, & an abiding societal nostalgia for cowboys (the penny dreadful & Hollywood/TV version, not the real thing).

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    Quote Originally Posted by southwest88 View Post
    No, it goes back much further. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics

    "Eugenics (/juːˈdʒɛnɪks/; from Greek εὐγενής eugenes 'well-born' from εὖ eu, 'good, well' and γένος genos, 'race, stock, kin')[2][3] is a set of beliefs and practices that aims at improving the genetic quality of a human population.[4][5] The exact definition of eugenics has been a matter of debate since the term was coined by Francis Galton in 1883. The concept predates this coinage, with Plato suggesting applying the principles of selective breeding to humans around 400 BCE.…

    "A major criticism of eugenics policies is that, regardless of whether "negative" or "positive" policies are used, they are susceptible to abuse because the criteria of selection are determined by whichever group is in political power at the time. Furthermore, negative eugenics in particular is considered by many to be a violation of basic human rights, which include the right to reproduction. Another criticism is that eugenic policies eventually lead to a loss of genetic diversity, resulting in inbreeding depression due to lower genetic variation."

    "Frederick Osborn's 1937 journal article "Development of a Eugenic Philosophy"[6] framed it as a social philosophy—that is, a philosophy with implications for social order. That definition is not universally accepted. Osborn advocated for higher rates of sexual reproduction among people with desired traits (positive eugenics), or reduced rates of sexual reproduction and sterilization of people with less-desired or undesired traits (negative eugenics). …

    "While eugenic principles have been practiced as far back in world history as ancient Greece, the modern history of eugenics began in the early 20th century when a popular eugenics movement emerged in the United Kingdom[8] and spread to many countries including the United States, Canada[9] and most European countries. In this period, eugenic ideas were espoused across the political spectrum."

    (My emphasis - more @ the URL)

    Negative eugenics was all the rage @ the point that Caucasian nations noticed how many more non-Caucasians than Caucasians there are in the World. There was an accompanying concern that Caucasian nations were becoming soft & effete, & so on - the rationale for inventing football & instituting it @ the US collegiate level. This also played to the concern for our young men to be manly, go out West, & an abiding societal nostalgia for cowboys (the penny dreadful & Hollywood/TV version, not the real thing).

    Francis Galton in 1883, that's the time period I referenced--"the modern history of eugenics began in the early 20th century". Late 1800s, early 1900s, the Progressive Era.
    Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire. ― Gustav Mahler

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    Quote Originally Posted by Just AnotherPerson View Post
    Stephen Hawking feared genetic engineering would create ‘superhumans’

    https://metro.co.uk/2018/10/14/steph...umans-8036193/

    Professor Stephen Hawking feared a new race of ‘superhumans’ could destroy the rest of humanity if genetic engineering continued unabated.The scientist died in March but left a collection of articles which outlined his concerns about the future of the human race.In his final book In Brief Answers to the Big Questions, out on Tuesday, Professor Hawking states that he fears wealthy people will begin to edit their own and their children’s DNA to create ‘superhumans’ who will be more intelligent and live longer.

    He wrote: ‘Once superhumans appear, there will be significant political problems with unimproved humans who will be unable to compete.


    ‘Presumably, they will die out, or become unimportant. Instead there will be a race of self-designing beings who are improving at an ever-increasing rate.’He predicted that even if laws were passed to kerb genetic engineering there would always be people prepared to break any rules which would spark the rise of superhumans.



    Cutesy Time is OVER

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    $#@!, I want me some superpowers

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