Call Me Old-Fashioned, But …

Posted on Comments

. . . as the father of six children, the standard method of procreation has always seemed to me both efficient and fun.

Others, however, consider the natural way of baby-making to be too messy and unscientific, and so Progress demands a Brave New World of “reproductive technology,” about which Alexis Madigral of The Atlantic enthusiastically cheers. Synthetic gametes? Excuse my skepticism, Doctor Frankenstein, but I still prefer the messy natural way.

 

48 comments

  1. What’s the opposite of a Luddite? Is there a word for that? Is there a word for people who think science is ALWAYS right, ALWAYS beneficial, ALWAYS “progress”?

    We have no trouble creating people. The damned things are everywhere!

  2. Yes, it’s Sheldon Cooper. And he prefers this method, much to the consternation of Amy Farah Fowler.

  3. Look at the bright side. Synthetic gametes would do away with the need for immigration amnesty since we could just tailor our passive, dependent voters right in the womb.

  6. The word that comes to mind for the dogmatic faith in “science” as the universal answer to all human inquiry is “scientism.” I’m not sure if there’s a good word for the adherents of “scientism.”

  8. Consider what the author seems to think is a good thing, the ability to move beyond natural copulation to procreate, has wrought. We have had fifty million unborn children slaughtered in this country since 1973, while, at the same time, couples who cannot procreate normally have been spending tens, and sometimes hundreds, of thousands of dollars to have their “own” children. We have people seeking to adopt unwanted babies from Russia and China and other places.

    The obvious, humane solution, would have been to have those couple who want children, but cannot have them, to be able to adopt without so many stupid and expensive restrictions. But I guess that such a simple idea is wrong for our oh-so-sophisticated society.

  9. If you have something I want or need, and I have something to trade in return, like money, it’s the job of people like barack to insert themselves between us and extort the exchange from both sides.

  20. Those folks just love their eugenics ,don’t they. And, why are they so ashamed of their offspring, or potential offspring. So ashamed that they feel the need to remove nature and all of her vagaries from life.

  31. At the end of the room a loud speaker projected from the wall. The Director walked up to it and pressed a switch.

    “… all wear green,” said a soft but very distinct voice, beginning in the middle of a sentence, “and Delta Children wear khaki. Oh no, I don’t want to play with Delta children. And Epsilons are still worse. They’re too stupid to be able to read or write. Besides they wear black, which is such a beastly colour. I’m so glad I’m a Beta.”

    There was a pause; then the voice began again.

    “Alpha children wear grey. They work much harder than we do, because they’re so frightfully clever. I’m really awfully glad I’m a Beta, because I don’t work so hard. And then we are much better than the Gammas and Deltas. Gammas are stupid. They all wear green, and Delta children wear khaki. Oh no, I don’t want to play with Delta children. And Epsilons are still worse. They’re too stupid to be able …”

    The Director pushed back the switch. The voice was silent. Only its thin ghost continued to mutter from beneath the eighty pillows.

    –Brave New World, Chapter 2

  35. Well, you would, but I’m 61 years old, and the silver-haired lady appears to be much more age appropriate to me.

    Which brings me to another point, which will (probably) not win wide acceptance: ladies, when your hair starts turning grey, you don’t have to color it! Men know that you’re getting older, and we really don’t care all that much, given that we’re getting older at the same rate.

  36. The silver-haired tabby is “Brynn” and she’s only 34!

    (The blue-aired tom is “Doll” and 27 and the tall, dodgy looking lemon in the middle is “Kitten”, 30…)

  37. That’s a fair point, but it’s not a game-changer, since lesbian couples seem to be find with sperm donors, and gay men still need a uterus, not just an egg.

Comments are closed.