is human experimentation acceptable?

Question

has anyone out there watched the movie gattaca? the story is about human experimentation...the "valid" and the"in-valid".... well do you think it's aceptable?

Answer 1

NO... IT'S.... NOT.... ACCEPTABLE.... BY.... ANY...... STRETCH... OF.... THE.... IMAGINATION.......!!!!

Answer 2

Eh...I own Gattaca, and it's not really about human experimentation. Certain people are simply conceived in a way that ensures them more advantages in life, while people who are conceived the "natural" way have more life difficulties because their genetics was based on random chance. Essentially, in Gattaca, artificial selection > natural selection.

Anyway, if you're asking whether or not we think that it's acceptable to do the kinds of things done in Gattaca, in which parents can ensure their children as many advantages as possible...then yes, I think it is absolutely acceptable. I don't have kids, but I know that one day when I do I will do everything in my power to ensure that their lives are as good as they can possibly be. It's human nature to want your children to be successful. If some sort of technology in the near future (when I have kids) is ever available like the sort in Gattaca, I will definitely employ it if at all possible in the conception of my children. (And remember, in Gattaca, the children weren't "genetically engineered" from scratch or anything...the doctors would just take some sperm and eggs from the parents, create some embryos, and the parents could then choose which they wanted. As one of the Gattaca doctors said, "It's still you, it's just the best of you"). On another note, we have to remember that modern medicine and our very safe society have pretty much negated natural selection. People who normally would not have made it to sexual maturity are now growing up and passing on inferior genes to future generations. As a nation, we are going to progressively become more unhealthy (not just from our lifestyles, but literally on a genetic level) if things keep going as they are. The doctors in Gattaca were doing what nature no longer did. Natural selection no longer applied, so artificial selection sorta stepped in and did what nature should have been able to do.

As far as human experimentation in general, whether or not it's acceptable depends on many variables. Did the people being experimented on agree to the experiment? Were they made fully aware of the possible consequences? If the answer to both these questions is yes, then I believe experimenting on humans IS acceptable. But if the persons involved didn't consent to the experiments or weren't made fully aware of what could happen, then I think it's unacceptable.

Answer 3

In a broad sense, all experimentation is human experimentation. The first time a toddler reaches for fire, a teenager's first kiss, the first time a man set foot on the moon; we never know what is or isn't harmful until we've tried it. Of course, that's no excuse of to act irresponsibly. With every new thing, take every known precaution.

Answer 4

The question is not what we do, but who makes the decision? Each couple who procreates is selecting a partner with a mind towards the type of child they will produce. Most people, for example, don't seek out disabled or ill people to mate with. The ethical issue is who makes the choice and how it is arrived at? With abortion, genetic screening and a variety of other "selection" criteria, most humans are engaging in an unofficial eugenics program all on their own.

I am completely fine with "breeding out" aggression, violence and many disease that complicate the human condition.

Child poverty could be wiped out within 3 generations by dealing with diseases. Of course, no one trusts government or each other to implement such a program.

Answer 5

one could define surveys as "human experimentation." Each time a new, beneficial medical procedure is performed, that is human experimentation, albeit one where benefits presumably outweigh negatives, and the patient presumably is informed and consenting.

if you mean using unneccessary surgery/other medical treatments with potentially harmful side effects, and an unwilling/uninformed human guinea pig, then yes, that is wrong - and it is something our corporate food producers do to us on an alarmingly frequent basis.

Answer 6

read the book 'never let me go' by kashuro ishiguro. it will really get you thinking about the subject.

Answer 7

evil,talk about you island of Dr.Mauro