As I’ve said elsewhere, I have more complicated feelings about genetic enhancement. I think it is potentially beneficial, but also tends to be correlated with bad politics, and it could be the negative social effects of allowing it outweigh the benefits.
I appreciate you keeping on open mind on genetic enhancement (i.e., not grouping it with racism and fascism, or immediately calling for it to be banned). Nevertheless, it fills me with a sense of hopelessness to consider that one of the most thoughtful groups of people on Earth (i.e., EAs) might still realistically decide to ban the discussion of human genetic enhancement (I’m assuming that’s the implied alternative to “allowing it”), on the grounds that it “tends to be correlated with bad politics”.
When I first heard about the idea of greater than human intelligence (i.e., superintelligence), I imagined that humanity would approach it as one of the most important strategic decision we’ll ever face, and there would be worldwide extensive debates about the relative merits of each possible route to achieving that, such as AI and human genetic enhancement. Your comment represents such a divergence from that vision, and occurring in a group like this...
If even we shy away from discussing a potentially world-altering technology simply because of its political baggage, what hope is there for broader society to engage in nuanced, good-faith conversations about these issues?
I appreciate you keeping on open mind on genetic enhancement (i.e., not grouping it with racism and fascism, or immediately calling for it to be banned). Nevertheless, it fills me with a sense of hopelessness to consider that one of the most thoughtful groups of people on Earth (i.e., EAs) might still realistically decide to ban the discussion of human genetic enhancement (I’m assuming that’s the implied alternative to “allowing it”), on the grounds that it “tends to be correlated with bad politics”.
When I first heard about the idea of greater than human intelligence (i.e., superintelligence), I imagined that humanity would approach it as one of the most important strategic decision we’ll ever face, and there would be worldwide extensive debates about the relative merits of each possible route to achieving that, such as AI and human genetic enhancement. Your comment represents such a divergence from that vision, and occurring in a group like this...
If even we shy away from discussing a potentially world-altering technology simply because of its political baggage, what hope is there for broader society to engage in nuanced, good-faith conversations about these issues?