Breeding humans: Utopias from the early modern period

Science Daily ^ | 3/29/2016 | Ruhr-Universitaet-Bochum

[JimSEA]

Science Newsfrom research organizations Breeding humans: Utopias from the early modern period Date: March 29, 2016 Source: Ruhr-Universitaet-Bochum Summary: The idea to improve humans and to optimise procreation emerged long before genetic engineering. As far back as the 18th century, concepts did exist that appear unthinkable from the modern perspective. Share: FULL STORY The idea to improve humans and to optimise procreation emerged long before genetic engineering. As far back as the 18th century, concepts did exist that appear unthinkable from the modern perspective.

In the wake of the Enlightenment, medical sciences rose to power, and economists and administrative scientists recognised the population to be an economic resource, which they wished to multiply. Prof Dr Maren Lorenz who holds the Chair of Early Modern History and Gender History at Ruhr-Universität Bochum reconstructs utopias of the physical "improvement of mankind" from that period.

Strategic procreation policy

To date, studies had focused on the purely economic theories or eugenic approaches of the late 19th century and later years. The historian from Bochum has now inspected earlier sources, where doctors discuss a strategic procreation policy. It aimed at producing a strong, healthy population, for efficient agricultural production and powerful armies.

The authors, for example, suggested probationary marriage and compulsory divorce, if a couple didn't have any offspring. Some even demanded the abolition of celibacy, because traditionally only physically and mentally fit men were permitted to join the Catholic Church -- a waste of procreation resources. "Their thinking was relatively revolutionary in ethical terms; yet in an era of severe censorship," says Maren Lorenz.

[JimSEA]

The really bad ideas most famously embraced by Sanger and the Nazis had a very long history. The ideas underlying eugenics preceded Darwin and Sanger by hundreds of years. Darwin never promoted these "breeding" and culling the herd ideas but it's undeniable that they were promoted by his followers and even family. Darwin would have corrected "perfection of the species" to survival of those suited to survive.

A very black perversion of what was to become evolution theory.

[Fiddlstix]

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[jonascord]

If we simply used registering as a democrat as the marker for a sub-normal IQ, and culled them, we could shift the Bell Curve 3 Standard deviations to the right in only a few generations...

[PatrickJames]

In the west, human breeding is primarily determined by the sexual preferences of teenage girls, which are heavily influenced by Hollywood. We have tried it for several decades, the results are not good.

If farmers started breeding plants and animals based on the same idiocy we would soon starve.

Things that were common sense only a few generations ago are now considered evil by otherwise intelligent people. How did that happen?

[Kommodor]

The same thing is going on today, except that it is the culling of the productive and responsible, and replacement with the opposite, encouraged by the media, tax policy, and generous benefits.