Yes, every child (indeed, person) is different. It's something we all have in common. :)
What's scary about this--aside from the possibility of misuse of the information that behavioral differences can be in part genetically determined, to which I alluded earlier--is that the prospect of being able to add, change, or remove such differences for our children is becoming more real. It would be a big responsibility, and arguably one of a different kind than those responsibilities involved in having and raising a child in the first place.
Even more scary, in a way: it's already possible to do amniocentesis to test for things like Down's Syndrome. The more kinds of factors that can be tested for, the more likely it may be that a parent will decide that they don't want to bear a child with (or without) factor X--and if we do not assume the ability to do genetic manipulation in utero, then the only option such parents would have is abortion. Which option will get used in some cases. I'm not in favor of bans on abortion, but this starts to get into some really sticky ethical issues. (Is it OK to abort a fetus because it will have Down's Syndrome? ADHD? Brown hair?)
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branchandroot
(no subject)
Date: 13 August 2008 19:24 (UTC)What's scary about this--aside from the possibility of misuse of the information that behavioral differences can be in part genetically determined, to which I alluded earlier--is that the prospect of being able to add, change, or remove such differences for our children is becoming more real. It would be a big responsibility, and arguably one of a different kind than those responsibilities involved in having and raising a child in the first place.
Even more scary, in a way: it's already possible to do amniocentesis to test for things like Down's Syndrome. The more kinds of factors that can be tested for, the more likely it may be that a parent will decide that they don't want to bear a child with (or without) factor X--and if we do not assume the ability to do genetic manipulation in utero, then the only option such parents would have is abortion. Which option will get used in some cases. I'm not in favor of bans on abortion, but this starts to get into some really sticky ethical issues. (Is it OK to abort a fetus because it will have Down's Syndrome? ADHD? Brown hair?)