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To: r9etb
In fact, eugenics is an application of TOE,

Eugenics is the application of animal husbandry to human beings. As soon as an intelligent agent is doing the selecting, it is no longer "natural selection" but "artificial selection" and, therefore, not encompassed by the TOE (to the extent that the "TOE" refers to Darwinian evolution.)

236 posted on 08/28/2006 10:55:54 AM PDT by WildHorseCrash
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To: WildHorseCrash
Eugenics is the application of animal husbandry to human beings. As soon as an intelligent agent is doing the selecting, it is no longer "natural selection" but "artificial selection" and, therefore, not encompassed by the TOE (to the extent that the "TOE" refers to Darwinian evolution.)

I see your point, but disagree. Somebody else (Right Wing Professor, I think) once stated that animal husbandry -- or eugenics -- merely imposes a different sort of evolutionary pressure, but that the underlying mechanism was the same.

The underlying principle of eugenics, though, was taken from the TOE, in the sense that the theory of evolution implies the existence of "superior" and "inferior" traits. A eugenicist need not strive for "improvements," per se. For example, Margaret Sanger put her beliefs in terms of getting rid of undesirable traits:

A stern and rigid policy of sterilization and segregation to that grade of population whose progeny is already tainted or whose inheritance is such that objectionable traits may be transmitted to offspring.

247 posted on 08/28/2006 11:06:57 AM PDT by r9etb
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