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submitted 7 months ago by jeffw@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[-] Maggoty@lemmy.world -5 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

No. Eugenics is race theory as much as it's anything scientific. It was about making sure the "correct" races had children. I don't know what the name for this is in science but Eugenics isn't about making kids healthier, it's about making them whiter.

[-] Patches@sh.itjust.works 9 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

No that's literally what it means:

The practice or advocacy of controlled selective breeding of human populations (as by sterilization) to improve the populations' genetic composition

Science that deals with the improvement of inherited qualities of a race or breed and especially of human beings

The practice or advocacy of controlled selective breeding of human populations (as by sterilization) to improve the populations' genetic composition

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eugenics

[-] starman2112@sh.itjust.works 10 points 7 months ago

But this isn't selective breeding, unless you twist the definition to the point where it means something wholly different. If I understand right, this is just screening embryos for potential health problems.

[-] billwashere@lemmy.world 9 points 7 months ago

If this is indeed like GATTACA selecting specific embryos after fertilization is not really selective breeding. Selective breeding is picking the parents. This is picking the children. You could do both but it didn’t seem like that is what was happening. I could still see this likely leading to problems genetically not dissimilar to problems with inbreeding. Genetic diversity requires the randomness of life to be useful long term.

[-] Maggoty@lemmy.world 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Did you miss where they do that by sterilization? And qualities of a race or breed?

Do you speak English? Is this a translation error?

Edit to add-

And you present it like there's multiple definitions. There is not. This is Merriam's entry-

the practice or advocacy of controlled selective breeding of human populations (as by sterilization) to improve the populations' genetic composition

The second one is for kids. The follow on context under the actual definition also makes it very clear that this was selective breeding by sterilization, closely related to white supremacy ideology.

[-] sepulcher@lemmy.ca -1 points 7 months ago

You specifically left out the "a science" part, which is also part of the "kids'" definition for eugenics.

eugenics noun eu·​gen·​ics yu̇-ˈjen-iks : a science that deals with the improvement of inherited qualities of a race or breed and especially of human beings

Removing the "a" from the beginning completely changes the meaning of the word, which is why you did it.

Shame.

[-] kurcatovium@lemm.ee 3 points 7 months ago

I'm not native speaker so please excuse my stupid question. How does the "a" change the meaning? My language doesn't even have articles so I have troubles with using them or understanding such nuances.

this post was submitted on 11 Apr 2024
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