> If America doesn't do it, China will, and in a generation will be swollen with a population so much more fit as to make the question of the US standing toe-to-toe laughable. If China doesn't, Russia will.
So what? They win more Olympic medals? Or what, they invade like in Red Dawn? Or they take all the places in our elite colleges?
While its not an argument against, fear-mongering a ludicrous, purely hypothetical bioengineering arms race is not a particularly good argument for.
> I want genetic engineering because it's logical that as humans learn to exert control over their environment, it's inevitable that we also learn to control our own evolution.
If something is inevitable, it's irrelevant whether you want it or not.
> But I get that huge swathes of the population reject it for religious reasons or what have you.
I honestly don't think you do get it. I think you accept your own moral imperative naively and uncritically without even a casual attempt to understand the thought of those who are a little more circumspect.
The country with more capable populace will produce more valuable goods and services. If free trade is allowed, trade imbalance will accumulate to an extent that might tip the scales in other domains, including global standing.
Technological and military power also fundamentally depend on the quality of people.
Full-scale war is not likely in the near future, but will people accept being an underdog after a century of dominance?
So what? They win more Olympic medals? Or what, they invade like in Red Dawn? Or they take all the places in our elite colleges?
While its not an argument against, fear-mongering a ludicrous, purely hypothetical bioengineering arms race is not a particularly good argument for.
> I want genetic engineering because it's logical that as humans learn to exert control over their environment, it's inevitable that we also learn to control our own evolution.
If something is inevitable, it's irrelevant whether you want it or not.
> But I get that huge swathes of the population reject it for religious reasons or what have you.
I honestly don't think you do get it. I think you accept your own moral imperative naively and uncritically without even a casual attempt to understand the thought of those who are a little more circumspect.