If I pick the former and the die roll goes badly, I know I’m directly responsible for that, for the rest of my life. If I pick the latter, then, every single time my kid misses the game-winning catch by a hair, or gets waitlisted to his dream school, I think about my paranoia being the reason his life is worse.
I don’t think this is really that much different from parents who blame themselves for their child not performing well on an exam because they didn’t sign them up for a private tutor. Embryo selection allows parents to influence the outcomes to some degree, but there’s still chance involved both from the remaining genetics we don’t understand and from the environment.
Humans didn’t evolve to live with that kind of damning empirical guilt.
I think humans evolved to deal with far worse than this. Think about how many children literally died from diseases, predation, and other horrible causes in the past. I think that stuff was way worse than seeing your child miss the game-winning field goal or even seeing them develop some mental disorder. And yet humans survived it.
I don’t think this is really that much different from parents who blame themselves for their child not performing well on an exam because they didn’t sign them up for a private tutor.
I feel like there’s a fundamental emotional difference when it comes to genetic limitations, just because of how much more unfair they feel. As you point out, it’s not logical—picking the traits that you want for your kid increases their expected happiness in life and is definitely a morally good action.
I don’t think this is really that much different from parents who blame themselves for their child not performing well on an exam because they didn’t sign them up for a private tutor. Embryo selection allows parents to influence the outcomes to some degree, but there’s still chance involved both from the remaining genetics we don’t understand and from the environment.
I think humans evolved to deal with far worse than this. Think about how many children literally died from diseases, predation, and other horrible causes in the past. I think that stuff was way worse than seeing your child miss the game-winning field goal or even seeing them develop some mental disorder. And yet humans survived it.
Humans are strong!
I feel like there’s a fundamental emotional difference when it comes to genetic limitations, just because of how much more unfair they feel. As you point out, it’s not logical—picking the traits that you want for your kid increases their expected happiness in life and is definitely a morally good action.