[PhasmaFelis]

Yeah, Idiocracy is kind of insidiously awful because it thinks that cultural changes are actually genetic. You don't have to follow its arguments very far at all to come to the conclusion that ignorance can be fixed, not by education, but by restricting breeding rights. We all know where that leads.

(Relevant xkcd: https://xkcd.com/603/)

[dragonwriter]

> Yeah, Idiocracy is kind of insidiously awful because it thinks that cultural changes are actually genetic.

But...they are (or, rather, they can reasonably be expected to produce genetic changes which reinforce themselves.) Because cultural changes effect mate selection, and also otherwise improve the relative fitness of those naturally inclined to thrive in the cultural environment.

[PhasmaFelis]

Most people who obsess over celebrities, or fall for every ad they see, or whatever else Idiocracy thinks is the downfall of society, aren't mentally impaired. They were raised in a society that discourages critical thinking skills and devalues education. They're ignorant, in other words. You don't fix ignorance with eugenics. You fix it with education.

[Aeolun]

A more healthy and smart society?

[Cyph0n]

Have you heard about the story of eugenics and Nazi Germany?

[Aeolun]

It seems to me the conditions are completely different.

There’s nothing racial or political about this.

It’s certainly ethically dubious. And I’m not certain it actually has any effect.

[PhasmaFelis]

Which group of people do you trust to decide which other groups should be allowed to continue and which should become extinct, without any bias or personal preference?

Eugenics is always political.

> It’s certainly ethically dubious. And I’m not certain it actually has any effect.

Then why are you defending it? I'm confused.

[Aeolun]

If it does works it is entirely possible it will lead to a healthier and smarter society.

I see it mainly as an implementation problem, not necessarily objectively bad by itself.

A bit like communism :)

[PhasmaFelis]

> If it does works it is entirely possible it will lead to a healthier and smarter society.

Sure, and if Elon Musk invented flying hamburgers we could solve world hunger, which is just about as plausible as successfully using genetic selection to solve a non-genetic problem. The premise is false; anything that proceeds from a false premise is useless.