Biologically changing a baby's brain to make sure it develops empathy?

[somebody2]

I have a buzz just saying up front, you may want to stop reading... and I found the emojis!

So, I read an article about how scientists somewhere have found ?something? In the brain that coincides? With either being a Liberal or a Conservative in the future. I believe most Liberals are more live and let live bc they have maybe a tad more empathy. Idk.

If scientists have it isolated and know whether to add something or lessen something to help improve the child's empathy for life forms without making them dumbasses and what not, would that be a good thing or a bad thing? It sounds pretty good to me.

I put in this spot bc I am never sure where my bullshit belongs, probably best nowhere.

 

[abaddon]

What’s wrong with educating empathy in homes, schools, communities? It’s the ability to put yourself imaginatively in another’s shoes. Sharing, teaching tales, encouragement to express one’s own feelings and then considering how others must feel too, setting the example, and on and on… That’s how it's been done since forever.

“Empathy for life forms”? It takes contact. People are dissociated from the rest of life because they live inside of boxes. Technical solutions put them there... I'd say interaction, relating, dialogue is the better route.

 

[Playball40]

What’s wrong with educating empathy in homes, schools, communities? It’s the ability to put yourself imaginatively in another’s shoes. Sharing, teaching tales, encouragement to express one’s own feelings and then considering how others must feel too, setting the example, and on and on… That’s how it's been done since forever.

“Empathy for life forms”? It takes contact. People are dissociated from the rest of life because they live inside of boxes. Technical solutions put them there... I'd say interaction, relating, dialogue is the better route.

They believe, for reasons unknown, that it just doesn't develop in some brains. And apparently the window to develop empathy is actually pretty small.

 

[ApostateAbe]

I have a buzz just saying up front, you may want to stop reading... and I found the emojis!

So, I read an article about how scientists somewhere have found ?something? In the brain that coincides? With either being a Liberal or a Conservative in the future. I believe most Liberals are more live and let live bc they have maybe a tad more empathy. Idk.

If scientists have it isolated and know whether to add something or lessen something to help improve the child's empathy for life forms without making them dumbasses and what not, would that be a good thing or a bad thing? It sounds pretty good to me.

I put in this spot bc I am never sure where my bullshit belongs, probably best nowhere.

Twin studies have shown that psychopathic traits are largely genetically heritable, so it is not at all out of the question that parents would genetically engineer their children to remove the psychopathic traits. It may be more significant, though, that many parents would instead opt for the psychopathic traits for their own children. Psychopathy is the absence of a restriction on self-interest. Powerful leaders are more likely to be psychopaths.

 

[somebody2]

Thank you for the thoughtful replies.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

I'd just like to take this opportunity to point out that there's no gene for the human spirit.

No matter what kind of genetic engineering is done to give someone empathy and compassion, if he believes in himself and applies himself every day, he has it within him to become as dangerous and cold-hearted a psychopath as any CEO or serial killer out there.

 

[Angry Floof]

Some of our most brilliant and life-changing advances have had unintended consequences. Babies' brains is one area where I would adamantly oppose fucking around with it under the hope that we're making things better.

I don't think babies or fetuses' brains need fucking with anyway. I think unhindered development naturally fosters empathy barring certain diseases and conditions out of our control, and we know a lot about what kinds of experiences and exposure during fetal development and infancy that can stunt development of empathy (such as substance abuse, trauma to the mother, physical stresses, etc.).

In my view, our culture is the biggest influence on how babies' brains develop. We're stressed out, abusive to each other, inconsistent in how we deal with parenting and infant care, nutbag-level religious about food and health and exercise, addictive, highly exposed to an insane media... our culture doesn't really provide the best environment for mothers and babies.

 

[ApostateAbe]

Some of our most brilliant and life-changing advances have had unintended consequences. Babies' brains is one area where I would adamantly oppose fucking around with it under the hope that we're making things better.

I don't think babies or fetuses' brains need fucking with anyway. I think unhindered development naturally fosters empathy barring certain diseases and conditions out of our control, and we know a lot about what kinds of experiences and exposure during fetal development and infancy that can stunt development of empathy (such as substance abuse, trauma to the mother, physical stresses, etc.).

In my view, our culture is the biggest influence on how babies' brains develop. We're stressed out, abusive to each other, inconsistent in how we deal with parenting and infant care, nutbag-level religious about food and health and exercise, addictive, highly exposed to an insane media... our culture doesn't really provide the best environment for mothers and babies.

Nature as it exists is such that each new birth is a chaotic new experiment of a new brain. Each of them are a result of a recombination of two previous genomes, with each active gene randomly selected, with at least dozens of completely random mutations per child on top of it. Each new brain is a chaotic mish mash, sometimes turning out for the more selectively advantageous (evolution depends on it) but a hundred times more often resulting in diseased brains: anorexia, anxiety disorder, autism, autophagia (eating one's own body), amnestic disorder, Alzheimer's, alcoholism susceptibility, bipolar disorder, bulimia nervosa, claustrophobia, cocaine abuse susceptibility, catatonia, circadian rhythm sleep disorder, Cotard delusion (belief that one's self is dead)... and those are just some of the A's, B's and C's. They each have a high genetic component, as we know from twin and adoption studies. Nature already does the genetic experiments, but Nature is a drunk driver wearing a blindfold, and she loves the highest gear. With genetic engineering, she would be sober and intelligent, with her eyes on the road.

 

[braces_for_impact]

I'd just like to take this opportunity to point out that there's no gene for the human spirit.

No matter what kind of genetic engineering is done to give someone empathy and compassion, if he believes in himself and applies himself every day, he has it within him to become as dangerous and cold-hearted a psychopath as any CEO or serial killer out there.

This. Some of the most manipulative and "evil" people, for lack of a better word, are masters at using empathy to their own ends. Having lots of empathy doesn't guarantee ethical behavior.

 

[somebody2]

I just don't get why some people enjoy hunting for sport, hurting, destroying anyone or anything for pleasure, religion or greed. I had a bad thought experiment in my drunken state, where we could manipulate the human mind to be more sensitive to the suffering of others, but no. life is something isn't it? So full of the very wonderful and the very ugly. I am weirdly hanging on for a grandbaby. Would I want it to be tampered with? Hell no! I just want to show said baby, lots of love and go to everything they find important.

 

[fromderinside]

Wait a moment. A lot of steps to climb the appropriate pulpit.

There.

Why am I here?

Oh, Yeah.

Nope. Not important.

Thank you.

 

[Juma]

. With genetic engineering, she would be sober and intelligent, with her eyes on the road.

More probably turn out like the result of a toddler playing with a advanced processor using a flamethrower...

I would say definitely no to such foolishness.

 

[ApostateAbe]

. With genetic engineering, she would be sober and intelligent, with her eyes on the road.

More probably turn out like the result of a toddler playing with a advanced processor using a flamethrower...

I would say definitely no to such foolishness.

Nature already rearranges genomes with blind drunkenness. How do you think humans would do it worse? The anti-scientific pessimism follows from the fiction of Frankenstein. It is believed that humans playing God, intruding on the domain of nature, and changing the essence of life can lead to nothing but horrible evil of some sort. Absolutely none of the science fiction fears were borne out of two decades of actual genetic engineering of plants, though of course plenty of popular myths claim otherwise ("Frankenfoods" is the ideological conspiratorial slur).