wealthy parents, or superior genes? which would you prefer if you had a choice?

[midwestbeef]

Wow, this thread took a wrong turn from its original direction. Using the word "superior" to describe the genes passed down from parents was, in hindsight, a mistake. I should have used a word like "advantageous" instead meaning its an "advantage" to be passed down Intelligence or great athleticism just like its an "advantage" to having wealthy parents. Unless, drifter, you disagree that Intelligence isn't passed down genetically, or that a high IQ isnt, in general, advantageous. I was trying to gauge members opinions on which option, if given a choice, they would select.

 

[Endued]

This thread is.... icky.

 

[798686]

I'll take the genetics, please.

And I find nothing offensive about the question asked.

This.

Money!
And I`ll be famous just for that! And I`d even a host a TV show called Luka`s BFF and I`d do it in Dubai!

Slut!

Wow, this thread took a wrong turn from its original direction. Using the word "superior" to describe the genes passed down from parents was, in hindsight, a mistake. I should have used a word like "advantageous" instead meaning its an "advantage" to be passed down Intelligence or great athleticism just like its an "advantage" to having wealthy parents. Unless, drifter, you disagree that Intelligence isn't passed down genetically, or that a high IQ isnt, in general, advantageous. I was trying to gauge members opinions on which option, if given a choice, they would select.

*Likes*.

 

[luka82]

Slut!

Oh, I guess we all know who is the first contestant to get slammed on the ass! :biggrin1:

 

[ConanTheBarber]

Wow, this thread took a wrong turn from its original direction. Using the word "superior" to describe the genes passed down from parents was, in hindsight, a mistake. I should have used a word like "advantageous" instead meaning its an "advantage" to be passed down Intelligence or great athleticism just like its an "advantage" to having wealthy parents. Unless, drifter, you disagree that Intelligence isn't passed down genetically, or that a high IQ isnt, in general, advantageous. I was trying to gauge members opinions on which option, if given a choice, they would select.

And there's nothing wrong with any of that, imo.
It's an interesting topic, and not a vicious one at all.

I suppose it would have been less provocative if you had simply asked if members would prefer being wealthy, or having a good degree of intelligence, energy, physical attractiveness, and so forth ... all determined in part by genetics.

 

[monstro]

Although personally I'm not "offended" by this thread, and I'm sure the OP meant nothing other than to post what he considered a fun question, it does seem to me to be a skewed question at the best, heavily biased toward a privileged viewpoint. Would you rather have your privilege through wealth or through genetics? Either way it's an inherited, unearned advantage. And an advantage over who, precisely? The poor, the ugly, the stupid? Being at least two out of those three, all I can say is I'm doing the best that I can amidst all the self-proclaimed ubermensch.

 

[erratic]

I read the question as "money or health?" ...certainly no eugenic/Nazi subtext to it as far as I can see.

Wealth or health? Frankly, both can help you live better and longer in today's world. It's a tough question.

I'll take health. When the zombie apocalypse happens we'll be wiping our asses with $100 bills.

 

[D_Tim McGnaw]

Wow, this thread took a wrong turn from its original direction. Using the word "superior" to describe the genes passed down from parents was, in hindsight, a mistake. I should have used a word like "advantageous" instead meaning its an "advantage" to be passed down Intelligence or great athleticism just like its an "advantage" to having wealthy parents. Unless, drifter, you disagree that Intelligence isn't passed down genetically, or that a high IQ isnt, in general, advantageous. I was trying to gauge members opinions on which option, if given a choice, they would select.

This was how I read your OP.

 

[Drifterwood]

"Have you read the OP? Have you read any of my other posts to this thread? I've already pretty much addressed your questions, and I'm too busy to repeat myself."

Remarkably, yes i have Hilly, it asks "wealthy parents or superior genes?"

Let's move beyond the problem that you also inherit your genes from your parents and concentrate on what is meant by superior genes. Not health or wealth.

You haven't addressed that simple question nor my question as to whether a gay gene could be considered superior or the opposite. You haven't addressed any of the issues that people who have genetic problems would find deeply offensive in this thread.

 

[D_Tim McGnaw]

Remarkably, yes i have Hilly, it asks "wealthy parents or superior genes?"

Let's move beyond the problem that you also inherit your genes from your parents and concentrate on what is meant by superior genes. Not health or wealth.

You haven't addressed that simple question nor my question as to whether a gay gene could be considered superior or the opposite. You haven't addressed any of the issues that people who have genetic problems would find deeply offensive in this thread.

Well transparently you haven't read anything I've posted, if you had you would have noted that I made it clear I have a number of genetically inherited conditions, some of a very serious nature, and I was not offended by the use of the term "superior genetics" in anyway. Besides, what is meant by superior genes was explained in the OP. Why are you jumping up and down about what might have been meant, when what was meant was explained?


Do I think it is an unscientific description? Yes, as I said before in an earlier post. Do I think the term "superior" is the best word to have used? No, As I said in an earlier post. Have you read the OP's clarification? I mean you did accuse him of being a Nazi and/or a Eugenicist. Don't you think you should apologise for that?

 

[Gecko4lif]

You haven't addressed that simple question nor my question as to whether a gay gene could be considered superior or the opposite. You haven't addressed any of the issues that people who have genetic problems would find deeply offensive in this thread.

Who the fuck are you to speak for them? If some genetically debilitated person has issue with the topic they can raise it themselves

or are they too fragile for that?

Get off your high horse.

 

[Catharsis]

Well, having wealthy parents would certainly help out with the whole "paying for college" issue. The fact I'll have to go to graduate school doesn't help to lessen the amount of loans that I have.

Genetics... What an interesting one for me, I'm not sure how I could place myself. Physically, I'm average or sub-average in just about everything. Intellectually, I would say that I'm mature beyond my age, but I don't think my "intelligence" has anything to do with genetics. I'm a pretty naive person, and don't exactly have the best confidence in myself. That's just how I've always been, not for any particular reason.

I can be book-smart, but only when I do about double the work it seems like the average person has to do. I have to dedicate a lot of time reading the material and try to make sense of things. In fact, when I was a kid I was almost placed into special education - actually, my teachers were pushing my parents to put me into that program, saying that I could never keep up with my classmates. My parents resisted and spent A LOT of their evenings with me doing my homework. Still, I barely passed my classes until middle school, where I started getting better grades. I was at my best in high school and this is where I really started to bloom.

I had to work very hard for that, though, and I still do in college. This could be a quality that might be looked up on or down on in the professional field, I'm really not sure which. Would someone hire me because I know the meaning of hard work in order to accomplish something, or would they want to bother with someone who might take longer to understand something?

Having neither "superior" genes nor wealthy parents, I would say that, in my current position, I would prefer the superior genes. The wealth might be good to help pay for my college tuition among other things, (being able to pay for emergency payments, having somewhat of a luxury, stuff like that) but the loans are temporary - how I am as a person will be forever.

 

[b.c.]

Wow, this thread took a wrong turn from its original direction. Using the word "superior" to describe the genes passed down from parents was, in hindsight, a mistake. I should have used a word like "advantageous" instead meaning its an "advantage" to be passed down Intelligence or great athleticism just like its an "advantage" to having wealthy parents. Unless, drifter, you disagree that Intelligence isn't passed down genetically, or that a high IQ isnt, in general, advantageous. I was trying to gauge members opinions on which option, if given a choice, they would select.

Thank you, MWB, for your self analysis and acknowledgment of the flaw in your original query.

I don't think I'm one to usually knee jerk over something like this. In another thread I defend the use of the term "black boys" in the context in which it was posed. So when I got a **pin-n-g** from this....

Yes, words such as advantageous, or even simply "good health" "good looks" etc. would have gotten less attention. We all may say to another that (within a limited gene pool) we were lucky to get the "good genes" (of our ancestry), "my mom's face and my dad's wang" for example. But in your post you quite cut to the chase, skipping over "good" and going right for superior.

And the troubling thing about it was not that you meant any harm by it, but that it may be indicative of a mindset that you yourself (hell, many of us) have unknowingly "bought into", a subliminal notion delivered to all of us, by our media and our culture: that good looks and intelligence are not only preferable, or desirable, but even "superior".

Dude, that's some heavy shit... when you think about it.

 

[SilverTrain]

Personally, my reaction to the over-the-top hand-wringing and name-hurling in this thread is a massive rolling of the eyes. All the asinine shit that's posted on this site and people get themselves in a bunch over this? Honestly?

Would you rather be wealthy and mentally handicapped or poor and......

"Oh, no! He said handicapped! What does he mean by that? How could he say it? How could he think it? Oh, gods, the children! Cover their eyes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

[lurker37160]

This is one of the most offensive threads that I have ever seen anywhere.

You are either a moron or a nazi. Perhaps both.

If you are offended by this thread, you have lived a sheltered life. :smile:

 

[lurker37160]

I'd take the rich parents and then find me a good plastic surgeon.

 

[D_Sharon Taint]

I'll take the money and run. :smile:

 

[b.c.]

Well, to answer the question more directly, these days I'd settle for good health. The rest can go fuck itself.

 

[Drifterwood]

And the troubling thing about it was not that you meant any harm by it, but that it may be indicative of a mindset that you yourself (hell, many of us) have unknowingly "bought into", a subliminal notion delivered to all of us, by our media and our culture: that good looks and intelligence are not only preferable, or desirable, but even "superior".

Dude, that's some heavy shit... when you think about it.

I agree.

This is a very interesting article. Eugenics in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I imagine that you wouldn't have to scratch very deep to find all this again in the Tea Party.

And sorry, but I am going to get offended by eugenic style questions whether deliberate or subliminal.

 

[Intrigue]

I agree.

This is a very interesting article. Eugenics in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I imagine that you wouldn't have to scratch very deep to find all this again in the Tea Party.

And sorry, but I am going to get offended by eugenic style questions whether deliberate or subliminal.

Ofcourse it's your right to be as offended as you want. I dont see the need to apologize. Topics will come up that rub folks the wrong way. I personally don't mind if a person gets upset. Obviously they have a good reason, to them. It doesn't matter if someone else thinks it is a silly reason or overly sensitive. As long as there is an open dialogue its always interesting to discuss. Its the name calling I find a tad distasteful, but again I understand. I'm no Ghandi.

I really need to read that article in its entirety. Is eugenics the same as genetic altering to suit an environment? For instance let us say that some time in the future humans can engineer themselves to endure the hard vacuum of space. Would that be considered eugenics? The only reason I bring that up is I'm an avid SciFi fan and the thought of adapting to foreign environments is always exciting, atleast it is so to me. If you've ever read the Hyperion series a group in the book called the Ousters are a section of humanity that rejected machine control and reliance for genetic altering to suit their environments such as space. Not sure if on derailing or going off on a tangent but I was just curious.