Re: Is Eugenics Really A Bad Thing?

From: Bryan Moss (bryan.moss@btinternet.com)
Date: Mon Jul 03 2000 - 15:03:01 MDT


Brian Atkins wrote:

> Do you agree that many animals are born with instincts?

I do.

> Do you agree that these instincts are built into their
> brains by DNA?

Yes, but most aren't as high-level as "big antlers".

> So why can't there also be instincts to want to have sex
> with big antlers?

Encoding "big antlers" is more like encoding symphonies in
heartbeats than encoding a heart, and to do that you have to
know a lot about the heart and a lot about music. A useful
mutation occurring within the brain (at that level) has to
be at least several orders of magnitude less likely than in
organs, limbs, and so on. (And impossible if you think the
brain is just one big "pattern catcher".)

> [...]

BM



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