• Maggoty@lemmy.world
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    8 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
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      8 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

      • billwashere@lemmy.world
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        8 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.

      • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
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        8 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.

          • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            Genetic screening has been around for awhile now. The scam here (if there is one) is them claiming this is new. Maybe they have a better screening, but this is not Theranos.

            The theory of eugenics is specific to racist ideology. They sterilized minorities so they couldn’t have children because they wanted more white people. That’s why it says “inherited qualities of a race, especially of human beings” it is specifically calling race out as separate from the idea of all humans.

          • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
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            8 months ago

            Closest, but the method used by eugenics is specifically selective breeding, and is specifically about races or breeds even when you twist the definition like you did here.

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        8 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.