Libertarian stance on genetic engineering?

[Al B. Sure!]

David Floyd:

The issue I'm talking about is genetic alterations where the individual could reasonably potentially not want... even things like blindness... though it is an immense handicapt there are undoubtedly people who would rather be blind (as they feel it is what God intended) than see artificially.


thanks

[Berzerker]

and they will have no say over how their genetic code was altered.

They had no say over being born.

there are undoubtedly people who would rather be blind (as they feel it is what God intended) than see artificially.

Lol, I doubt you'd find such a person, but how would a fetus know what God intended?

[Lord_Davinator]

Question:
Why would someone nto want a better brain?

[Al B. Sure!]

Berzerker:

**** the fetus... the point is that this fetus will grow into an adult individual who may not want his alterations... people are not happy with themselves right now but it's beyond the control of anyone they know... with genetic engineering, someone's unwanted traits would only be there because their parents choose them

[Berzerker]

Albert, by that logic, the parents violated the child's rights by procreating in the first place if the child is not happy with the original genetic code they supplied. I don't think the genetic manipulation were are dealing with here is done after the child is conceived, but in a lab before fertilization.

[Ramo]

Well, if, for instance, one genetically engineers her child so that the kid gets a bunch of nasty diseases and he/she'd won't live past 15, I think that should be legally prohibited. Since human cloning hasn't reached the stage where the health of the child can be ensured to a reasonable degree, it should be prohibited. So it really depends on what the genetic engineering is.

[Wraith]

--"Yeah but right now, one's intelligence, etc. is God-given or determined naturally through natural genetics..."

So what? How is this fundamentaly different from having his parents decide for him? In both cases he has no say in the matter, and may not like the results.
Just because it's up to chance right now doesn't mean people can't complain about their genes. I've heard people do it rather often.

Your opposition here seems to be rooted in a religious basis. Some of us don't believe in god or fate. What decides things now is chance. Things put together by design often function better than things put together by chance.

BTW, the best touching on the question of where genetic engineering may take us I've seen is in Walter Jon Williams' book Aristoi. Recommended read.

Wraith
"How did you end up making a 2000 horse-power cyborg out of an accident victim?"
"My hand slipped."
-- ("Prefectural Earth Defense Force")

[Sava]

I'm not a Libertarian, but I see nothing wrong with any kind of genetic engineering and cloning.