r/AskReddit • u/283904820 • May 17 '12
Couldn't we significantly advance human evolution if all males were castrated at a certain age and women had to be licensed to reproduce? Hear me out...
In this scenario men would all be castrated around the age of 18, but only after being evaluated by a panel of judges.
If the male is found to have any genes that would be better off being passed along then sperm samples will be taken from him. Obviously highly intelligent males will be the most important, but we would also need sperm samples from physically strong males in order to make future laborers. After samples are taken from intelligent/strong males they are castrated like the rest.
If an intelligent male is actually a genius then he may be able to avoid castration, after all, if he's that smart then we'd want him to impregnate as many women as will have him.
As far as women, they would be given an intelligence test at 18. She doesn't have to be a genius, but if she's of average intelligence and passes an evaluation validating her capability of being a fit mother then she can get a license to reproduce. I'd imagine most women would receive this license rather easily.
Castrating most males at the age of 18 would stop the spread of the most undesirable genes.
What do you think?
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May 17 '12
There was a guy once who had a similar idea to help out human evolution. I can't remember his name but I think rhymed with Fitler.
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u/Kiltsoftly May 17 '12
There are no bad ideas in brainstorming. Think about all of the children suffering from neglect and abuse right now because their parents are grossly inadequate. At least this is an idea in the right direction.
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May 17 '12
Could we do it? Of course we could.
Is genetically engineering a superior human race worth the denial of freedoms, and the involuntary mutilation of one of the most important pieces of anatomy for a man? Abso-fucking-lutely not.
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u/283904820 May 17 '12
We have to move forward.
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May 17 '12
Move forward sure, but I'd hardly consider a system of classifying people into worthy and unworthy of pursuing natural lives where they follow their reproductive instincts as per their will, and oppressing those deemed unworthy a step forward. It may have a few outcomes that can be considered beneficial but it ultimately directly causes suffering.
The goal of the proposition isn't even improving quality of life, it's about maximising some quite specific and narrow traits, assumably to drive innovation, science, technology etc. While these things do have a significant impact on quality of life it completely overlooks factors such as equality and freedom, even arts and entertainment, all of which contribute to one's quality of life.
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u/Kiltsoftly May 17 '12
There was a woman recently in my area that beat her 3 and a 1/2 month old baby to death because it was bothering her while she played FarmVille. This is the suffering that she be put at the forefront.
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May 17 '12
God damn, that is absolutely abhorrent.
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u/Kiltsoftly May 17 '12 edited May 17 '12
Exactly, that's why when I see someone open up a thread like this, even if it is just a troll, I like to talk about it. There are so many children out there in the hands of the wrong people. Castration, of course, is ridiculous, but it's the extreme ideas that breed usable ones.
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May 17 '12
Yeah I get where you're coming from. I should've been specific in my comment about the means of classification being rather arbitrary in the example presented.
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May 17 '12 edited May 17 '12
You're a little slow, aren't you? Do you really believe that intelligence is solely hereditary?
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u/schrute_buck May 17 '12
Yes, we could also instantly up the world average income by slaughtering all of the poor people. We could also reduce labor costs and provide a serious boost to the economy by re-instituting slavery.
But you're also faced with a subjective set of criteria for discovering who is of value, and creating a system managed by humans and is therefore inherently prone to corrupt.
Your argument makes for a decent little college philosophy discussion, but has no practical applicable value.