To me it seems the eugenics people have only one concern—how to reduce someone else’s burden from themselves.
When someone thinks that way, that other people are a burden, it’s already too late to help them, or change their mind. They’re too rooted in their biases, which aren’t necessarily cultural or historical. Even very young kids, who’ve had no exposure to culture or history, will identify “weakness” amongst one of them, and then bully or ostracize that weak kid. It seems that this behavior is a consequence of human evolution.
I am not a proponent of social Darwinism because I think people who propose such ideas don’t understand either human behavior or evolution. Evolution doesn’t have a purpose or determinism, so eugenics don’t make sense from a biological perspective. You don’t know what quality or aspect from somewhere may help in whatever scenario later. There are no guarantees that a system state will remain constant, or that what you’re looking to optimize will be useful. Evolutionary processes depend on both an organism’s apparent and hidden characteristics. I think the social Darwinians fixate too much on the apparent characteristics, like intelligence or health. No one can say there is any personal evolutionary benefit to hidden characteristics, like autism, depression, or altruism. But if if these aspects hadn’t developed, humanity would not have survived well enough to reach this stage.
It seems the social Darwinians are just admitting their own lack of capacity and imagination to justify why such traits exist, or indeed how they serve humankind. I think anyone who wants to help overturn the social Darwinian way of thinking, needs to create ways for vulnerable people to be “productive”. Don’t focus too much on the Capitalist implication of productivity, and instead on the goal of empowering someone to self-reliance, and some form of independence. I think it’s kinder to empower someone to protect themselves from those who wish them harm, than to try to change the mind of those will likely never understand.
In all honesty, I think social welfare programs will help increase productivity the most. The elite also need to understand the principles of noblesse oblige.
To me it seems the eugenics people have only one concern—how to reduce someone else’s burden from themselves.
When someone thinks that way, that other people are a burden, it’s already too late to help them, or change their mind. They’re too rooted in their biases, which aren’t necessarily cultural or historical. Even very young kids, who’ve had no exposure to culture or history, will identify “weakness” amongst one of them, and then bully or ostracize that weak kid. It seems that this behavior is a consequence of human evolution.
I am not a proponent of social Darwinism because I think people who propose such ideas don’t understand either human behavior or evolution. Evolution doesn’t have a purpose or determinism, so eugenics don’t make sense from a biological perspective. You don’t know what quality or aspect from somewhere may help in whatever scenario later. There are no guarantees that a system state will remain constant, or that what you’re looking to optimize will be useful. Evolutionary processes depend on both an organism’s apparent and hidden characteristics. I think the social Darwinians fixate too much on the apparent characteristics, like intelligence or health. No one can say there is any personal evolutionary benefit to hidden characteristics, like autism, depression, or altruism. But if if these aspects hadn’t developed, humanity would not have survived well enough to reach this stage.
It seems the social Darwinians are just admitting their own lack of capacity and imagination to justify why such traits exist, or indeed how they serve humankind. I think anyone who wants to help overturn the social Darwinian way of thinking, needs to create ways for vulnerable people to be “productive”. Don’t focus too much on the Capitalist implication of productivity, and instead on the goal of empowering someone to self-reliance, and some form of independence. I think it’s kinder to empower someone to protect themselves from those who wish them harm, than to try to change the mind of those will likely never understand.
In all honesty, I think social welfare programs will help increase productivity the most. The elite also need to understand the principles of noblesse oblige.