Oh, this article on Wired got me thinking: Designer Babies Are Teenagers Now—and Some of Them Need Therapy Because of It. Quick summary: the writer, Emi Nietfeld, is summarizing a discussion with a family therapist working with these teenagers.
Let’s start with, well, clearly this is an example of the Law of Unintended consequences. These technologies were supposed to make families “better”, to create the most beautiful and brilliant children. And, well, not exactly. People want to be valued as their unique selves. So, I found this line both telling, and rather messed up.
The kids feel like walking science experiments; the parents are disappointed in how their progeny turned out.
Seems like folks fell into the trap of grasping for control. If you thought the folks who hyper-structured their children’s lives so that they would become exactly who they wanted them to be were dysfunctional, imagine being able to go from math camps, piano lessons, and language immersion programs to messing with their DNA.
I kept coming across teens who were in distress about the way they had been created.
Created? That really felt weird to read. The interviewee sums up my thoughts well with this line:
People don’t always realize they are creating a human being and not a piece of furniture.
To me, this highlights the reason every major religion emphasises relinquishing control. Abandoning fear and allowing things/people to just BE is powerful.
Anyway, as the subject of this article states, “I don’t know if anyone’s making sure parents understand that they can’t test-drive a child and then return it.” People are not products! They aren’t resources to extract. They aren’t vehicles to further your ambitions. Sigh…
These tools have some powerful applications, and some of them, I expect, are life-affirming. However, they can leave a mess of multi-generational trauma. Perhaps we can’t prevent every Unintended Consequence, but, I expect, with thoughtful consideration, we could mitigate or eliminate more than we do. One can dream, I suppose.
