Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by hombre_fatal 1 day ago
Given the amount of love, energy, and attention it takes to raise a kid, I don't see why I should care how selective somebody else wants to be.
1 comments

This sort of thinking is incredibly dangerous to society at large, to say nothing of the danger to your own heart and soul.

Character, beauty, love, sacrifice. Every one of these involves pain and it makes life worth living. You can't avoid pain, so you might as well engage it in service of those you hold dear.

You should very much care about society wielding a sword like this, because historically we do not wield it well.

The sword being just deciding which embryos you will raise?

It's very easy to demand or promote sacrifices you expect other people to make. But I don't find that to be very empathetic.

I've already seen how society is when we shame and hand-wring about the personal decisions others make, and it's not one I want for my kids. At some point you need to be satisfied with your own decisions and then let other people make theirs.

I reject the premise of "live and let live" whereby no one is allowed to suggest I live a better life nor am I allowed to suggest they improve theirs.

I can be both satisfied with my decisions and still wish better for my neighbor; these are not mutually exclusive.

I am not saying, don't choose between embryos. I'm saying, be careful because it's a slippery slope and not a slide you want to ride.

Let's set the standard at development and genetic disorders.

Eliminating Down syndrome and cystic fibrosis, for example, seems not only reasonable but a moral imperative.

There really is no point in leaning into avoidable pain. Pain does not "make you stronger". Pain is not "beauty". These are all bullshit tropes invented by abusers to keep people from questioning things.
I agree with you, unnecessary pain is not virtue. But pain does indeed make you stronger, or it can make you bitter, or depressed, or insane. How you choose to work through the inevitable pain you will face is what determines if it makes you stronger or not.

It's easy to hand wave the question of pain away, but much wiser men than you and I have arrived at very different conclusions than you suggest.