Why do I bother with some things? Last night I got into a discussion in regards to genetic testing and my views of it, what should be allowed, and what shouldn’t. Needless to say, I got the feeling I was expected to draw a line somewhere and say, ” this is, this isn’t”. Too bad I can’t do that. Other than that, somehow, people think I’m accusing them of thinking one thing when I’m not. Is it too difficult a thing to listen to what someone actually says? Do I think some forms of Genetic “fixing” should be illegal? Yes, I don’t believe in manufactured kids to parents specs. That’s fucking with nature too much.

About 10 years ago, I dedicated myself to a path that gives honour to nature. By nature, I mean that thing around us that makes things go round. That life force that allows new life to come into this world and old life to go out of it. When I dedicated myself to this path, I also gained the responsibility of aiding in the maintenance of its balance. We can only go so far in “playing god” before that balance is completely out of whack and strange things begin to take place in order to regain that balance. To me, genetic alterations is one of those things that will knock us out of whack. Maybe it will speed up our evolution, or maybe it will speed up our decline, who knows. But I for one, would much prefer to let nature take the course of our evolution.

I understand that, for some people, my views might seem cold. After all, there are so many genetic diseases we could wipe out by going in and fixing everyone with those genetic defects and stop things right then and there. However, in those respects, how about we fix x-number of people with that genetic defect (mainly those who are willing to allow it be done), and let nature take its course from there? Are we so naive to think that we have to do nature’s job instead of aiding nature? Yeah, I know, I’m an idealist. To an extent, I think I was accused of being naive in thinking that designer kids will never happen. Sorry, but I’m not that naive. We’re talking about a person who’s so much a misanthrope that I agree with those who think humans are inherently stupid (some more than others). So I know that designer kids will eventually come into being, they’ll also fade away like a passing fad until some new method of manufacturing kids comes along (Brave New World anyone?). Sometimes I wonder why in the world I allowed the concept of actually having kids to enter my head. I don’t want my descendants to see petty people putting together their kids because they either want something specific, or they don’t want something.

I used the example of Down’s Syndrome as one of my points. It’s a genetic trait that manifests itself. What do you do with people who find out their kid is going to have this trait and decide to genetically alter their unborn child because they don’t want the stigma of having to deal with a Down’s Syndrome kid? To me, I understand and compliment parents who realize where their abilities stop, but what about all those parents who thought their abilities stopped at the same place, only to rise to the situation? Is it because some people can’t accept the extra effort they might have to put in? Is it because some people are just too finicky that they don’t want to deal with something like that? Who knows, and I pity those people who feel that they can’t accept a child for who and what that child will be, because of something that was beyond that child’s control.

StarTrek Enterprise had an interesting point a week or so ago. The Doctor refused to provide a cure for a genetic defect in an alien race because the genetic defect was the result of their evolution, and they were in the decline of their existence. When Archer tried to force him to administer the cure, the Doctor made the point–what if an alien race landed on your planet during the decline of the Neanderthal and the rise of Homo Sapiens and decided to offer something to the Neanderthal that would allow their species to continue on? Would the Homo Sapiens be where they’ve come to? Or would they possibly still be at the development point they were as the result of the Neanderthal’s not dying out? It’s an interesting quandary that has no black and white lines. If that makes me a fatalist, so be it. But, as a species, we’re going to evolve to a point where we become extinct, no matter how we try to put it off.