Here’s another question to throw into the heated (understatement of the year) debates around 1) the legality of abortion and 2) the validity of IQ scores.
Ethical question: Should we encourage women to abort their low-IQ embryos?
Because now we can test for that in utero.
How we answer that question, as individuals, as cultures, as countries will have a direct effect on the prosperity of our future families and societies. The future generations of cultures and countries that discourage or even ban the possibility will find themselves competing with the “intelligence-optimised” offspring of the countries who actively encourage (or even force) the procedure (as has been known to happen with the eugenics movements that were popular with politicians around the world, from Hitler’s Germany to Washington and Beijing, in the 20th century).
So, the Homo Sapiens’ bifurcation begins; right here and now with Generation Alpha.
Of course, just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. The real question here is about what it means to be a human, and what it really is that is best for the future of humankind.
What really matters more? Super intelligence? Super longevity? Or humanity itself?
Or, more to the point, will becoming smarter make us happier or reduce human suffering?
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