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by jonmrodriguez
2778 days ago
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Please understand that I have no problem with genetic engineering in general, and am probably one of the few people on this thread with genetic engineering experience. I have customized a DNA sequence and had my custom version synthesized into a plasmid, which worked as designed. I am a huge proponent of genetic engineering technology when applied to extend human life and augment human capabilities. I think that an arms race mentality is a dangerous approach to engineering ethics. I would rather that the arms race of the Cold War have been avoided if it were possible, even if it meant one or both sides being willing to lag behind when it comes to ethically dangerous technology. Do you have a citation for the supposition that Neanderthals are not legally human? I believe that the legal personhood of Neanderthals has not yet been established, and would likely have to go the Supreme Court. If legal personhood was denied to Neanderthals (homo sapiens neanderthalensis), would you say that it should be denied to mentally challenged homo sapiens sapiens as well? I am Catholic and have no choice but to align with the Vatican. I am just trying to do the right thing no matter whether it's with the help of a national government, a religious authority, or simply individuals who want to do the right thing. Please don't accuse me of not doing enough. I have invested 10 years of my salary into animal welfare companies and outrighted donated 2 years of my salary to other philanthropic organizations including medical and educational organizations. I'm just trying to do the best I can and there's not much more I can do. |
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Arms races exist regardless of your preference for narrative. The Chinese have zero concerns for forging chimera for any purpose they choose. That's the reality right now. Meanwhile, the Western response is to empower moral supremacists who all believe we're one random CRISPR event from an accidental Holocaust. It's neurotic paranoia rooted exclusively in cultural instability and it's for children.
Neanderthals aren't human for the same reason celery isn't human. Just because we may have a shared genetic branch (sharing in genomic expression is a ton more complicated than linear composition comparison) does not grant the entire mass of biology with human rights. Fighting for the human rights of non-humans is misguided bourgeoisie neurosis at best when you consider the entirety of human suffering that exists within a 500 foot radius of whereever you may be. Your desperate conflation to associate Neanderthals with, wow, the mentally disabled precisely proves my point.
Some science on the matter, which I suspect will have little influence on the subject (Never doubt the ability of moral supremacists to anthropomorphize): https://cosmosmagazine.com/biology/no-human-dna-found-in-nea...
Stuck backing the Catholic horse, eh? How many Neanderthals have been baptized and why has the Church clearly denied the noble Neanderthal such divine access to God's love? Perhaps a retcon is in order and we can throw in the Austropithicine for good measure. This, of course, presupposes an agreement that there were "humans" before Adam or that homosapien evolution is valid. Genesis is going to take a hit here, one way or another...
My question still remains: Precisely how many neurons count as sentience, or are we Overton Window dancing to see if we can start with a "all neurons are sacred" policy?