{"id":219058,"date":"2020-02-26T10:34:07","date_gmt":"2020-02-26T16:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=219058"},"modified":"2021-07-14T21:41:28","modified_gmt":"2021-07-15T02:41:28","slug":"richard-dawkins-eugenics-work-human-beings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/richard-dawkins-eugenics-work-human-beings\/","title":{"rendered":"Richard Dawkins: ‘Of course’ eugenics would work for human beings"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A string of tweets from Richard Dawkins has re-ignited the argument over eugenics. While many oppose the practice in word, it’s all too common for people to support it in deed. Things like abortion, sterilization, and euthanasia are frequently used to weed out those who are deemed unwanted. Abortion in particular frequently targets people with disabilities, or who happen to be the “wrong” gender their parents were hoping for. Yet oddly, Dawkins, a biologist and an outspoken atheist, mused about how successful he feels eugenics would be if we used it on humans.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s one thing to deplore eugenics on ideological, political, moral grounds. It\u2019s quite another to conclude that it wouldn\u2019t work in practice,” Dawkins began<\/a>. “Of course it would. It works for cows, horses, pigs, dogs & roses. Why on earth wouldn\u2019t it work for humans? Facts ignore ideology.”<\/p>\n

As Twitter users quickly — and understandably — grew upset, Dawkins tried to argue that he doesn’t actually<\/em> favor eugenics. He’s just letting people know that scientifically, it’s possible.<\/p>\n

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For those determined to miss the point, I deplore the idea of a eugenic policy. I simply said deploring it doesn\u2019t mean it wouldn\u2019t work. Just as we breed cows to yield more milk, we could breed humans to run faster or jump higher. But heaven forbid that we should do it.<\/p>\n

— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) February 16, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n