Title:
Date:
October 2nd, 2024
A concept I recently changed my mind about is genetic superiority.
I was promoting the idea of genetic superiority: The concept that some genetic sequences are superior to other sequences, that some people are genetically superior to other people, and that some races are collectively genetically superior to other races.
There is no objective measure of high/low quality or superior/inferior genetics.
I will start to use the term "more desirable" instead of superior.
Genetic desirability is defined as the degree to which a genetic trait is collectively desired by humanity. Genetic desirability can be measured by surveying people's sentiments.
Genetic beneficialness is defined as the degree to which a genetic trait helps humanity to flourish and be happy.
Beneficialness is different from desirability. People can desire things that aren't good for them, such as brain-damaging drugs or gambling. The concept of beneficialness is more debatable and subjective than desirability, so I won't use it for now. Genetic desirability is a good enough concept to explain the goal of eugenics. I may start to use genetic beneficialness as a goal of eugenics in the future.
Beneficial and desirable genetics are not "high quality" and "superior" genetics. I was trying to equate desirability and quality. You can say superior in terms of desirability, but you can't say superior in general. The terms "high quality", "superior", and "better" should be used along with some unit of measurement.
It's too simplistic and reductive to say some humans are genetically superior to others. Different traits are better for achieving different goals. For example, cars are not superior to horses, they just have different advantages and disadvantages.
Beauty, intelligence, health, virtue, and happiness are not superior to ugliness, stupidity, disease, immorality, and sadness, they are just more desirable. If the desirability of these traits were flipped, then eugenics would be about increasing the other trait. For example, if humanity became too intelligent, a new eugenic effort could be launched to make humanity dumber. Eugenics is about making humans have desirable traits. The traits which are desirable can change over time.
Humanity's evolutionary history was an overall eugenic process. The traits of the people who reproduced more tended to be the traits which people desired. The traits which nature selected for over time also tended to be the most desirable traits.
The human races each evolved and adapted to their unique environments. Each human race developed the most advantageous traits for their environments. It may have been advantageous to be less beautiful or to have a lower intelligence in certain environments. Genes which harm people in one environment can help people in a different environment.
The concept of improving something relies on the idea that there are "better" and "worse" versions of that thing. I will avoid promoting the concept of "improving humanity's genetics", and will instead promote the concept of "increasing humanity's genetic desirability". The word improvement has a few definitions, one of which means "increase desirability", but I will avoid the term for clarity's sake.
I apologize for promoting the concept of genetic superiority. I've known about the argument against the existence of genetic superiority for years, I just viewed it as a form of nihilism.
- Simon Sarasova
Below is a Seekia memo I digitally signed with my Seekia identity hash.
You can use the Seekia application to verify its authenticity.
| «« Seekia Memo »» | |- Signature: | 3eBjbHnDUGle48i2uAkFIkSxTsSs1Y | IrTdc1FHi-jNPQfNz5DSTxfcKuBuff | AvZJFaSoG5wUpNX_XWjjTEeGBA== | |- Identity Key: | f59a0bce855d6e48105612ae73ffabfc | 4fac1349226433ff586e08b9b32ffd9d | |- Author: | simonx5yudleks5jhwhnck5s28m | |- Memo: | | Ethereum Block Height: | 20877684 | | Ethereum Block Hash: | 0xb43896251282aa0ea9fd0060a761c344aca6564b04074b96fde822437bea597c | | Date: | October 2nd, 2024 | | Author: | Simon Sarasova | | Content Type: | Blog Post | | Title: | Genetic Superiority | | License: | Unlicense | | Content: | | | A concept I recently changed my mind about is genetic superiority. | | I was promoting the idea of genetic superiority: The concept that some genetic sequences are superior to other sequences, that some people are genetically superior to other people, and that some races are collectively genetically superior to other races. | | There is no objective measure of high/low quality or superior/inferior genetics. | | I will start to use the term "more desirable" instead of superior. | | «« Genetic Desirability »» | | Genetic desirability is defined as the degree to which a genetic trait is collectively desired by humanity. Genetic desirability can be measured by surveying people's sentiments. | | «« Genetic Beneficialness »» | | Genetic beneficialness is defined as the degree to which a genetic trait helps humanity to flourish and be happy. | | Beneficialness is different from desirability. People can desire things that aren't good for them, such as brain-damaging drugs or gambling. The concept of beneficialness is more debatable and subjective than desirability, so I won't use it for now. Genetic desirability is a good enough concept to explain the goal of eugenics. I may start to use genetic beneficialness as a goal of eugenics in the future. | | «« Genetic Quality »» | | Beneficial and desirable genetics are not "high quality" and "superior" genetics. I was trying to equate desirability and quality. You can say superior in terms of desirability, but you can't say superior in general. The terms "high quality", "superior", and "better" should be used along with some unit of measurement. | | It's too simplistic and reductive to say some humans are genetically superior to others. Different traits are better for achieving different goals. For example, cars are not superior to horses, they just have different advantages and disadvantages. | | Beauty, intelligence, health, virtue, and happiness are not superior to ugliness, stupidity, disease, immorality, and sadness, they are just more desirable. If the desirability of these traits were flipped, then eugenics would be about increasing the other trait. For example, if humanity became too intelligent, a new eugenic effort could be launched to make humanity dumber. Eugenics is about making humans have desirable traits. The traits which are desirable can change over time. | | «« Evolution »» | | Humanity's evolutionary history was an overall eugenic process. The traits of the people who reproduced more tended to be the traits which people desired. The traits which nature selected for over time also tended to be the most desirable traits. | | The human races each evolved and adapted to their unique environments. Each human race developed the most advantageous traits for their environments. It may have been advantageous to be less beautiful or to have a lower intelligence in certain environments. Genes which harm people in one environment can help people in a different environment. | | «« Genetic Improvement »» | | The concept of improving something relies on the idea that there are "better" and "worse" versions of that thing. I will avoid promoting the concept of "improving humanity's genetics", and will instead promote the concept of "increasing humanity's genetic desirability". The word improvement has a few definitions, one of which means "increase desirability", but I will avoid the term for clarity's sake. | | «« Conclusion »» | | I apologize for promoting the concept of genetic superiority. I've known about the argument against the existence of genetic superiority for years, I just viewed it as a form of nihilism. | | - Simon Sarasova | | | «« End Of Memo »»