"The Genius Factory"
By Pigglies
@Pigglies (9329)
United States
December 10, 2008 4:11pm CST
I just started reading "The Genius Factory" and I have to say, this book has some interesting ideas to it. The premises of the book is that sperm is collected from Nobel Prize winners and others who have extreme accomplishments. Only women who are exceptionally intelligent are able to request this sperm at a special sperm bank. This is non-fiction, which is kind of scary.
Having just completed an animal breeding course, I can see the ideas to this. But there is a lot more to it than just getting two smart people together and then having really smart kids. Although, I definitely look forward to reading more of this book to see how the experiment turned out.
Has anyone else read this? What do you think of the idea? Is it morally wrong? If so, are all sperm banks morally wrong if you can choose the traits of the donor? Will this work?
2 people like this
6 responses
@hotsummer (13837)
• Philippines
11 Dec 08
i don't see any thing immoral to it. but does not seem good though cause we are more concerned in getting an intelligent child that being corcerned to have a perfect child than being a loving parent to a child. though i will say that this is some kind of good idea too. i just don't know how they will raise up a child with such high intelligence and raised from an experiment. hope that it will not affect the child's life negatively when he grows up.but will see this an opportunity to be treated as a special child.
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
12 Dec 08
Now that I've gotten to the part of the book where the author interviews some of the parents and children, it actually didn't seem to affect the children negatively... at least up to the point that I've read.
Although, some children were treated as if they were special and there were high expectations for them. And then another was told in his teens. But none of the children seem extra special, it's just that since more was expected from them their parents pushed them harder.
@krfanlim (232)
• Malaysia
11 Dec 08
It is a very subjective matter and it's pretty debatable about such ethics. But WOW man!! I've certainly not heard of such selective reproduction!!
But still, although it's in the genes, do you actually think that it's possible to give birth to a child (albeit having 'genius' genes of both parents) who is mentally a genius just like that?? I thought inteligence has to be cultivated??
But yes, still, this bool is a real marvel. I'll search for it in the bookstores tomorrow (: Thanks!!
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
11 Dec 08
To some degree intelligence can be cultivated, but you have to start out with good material to begin with. For example, if you work in an office you probably notice certain people are just not all that bright. Some of them might have done better if their parents had enforced their education a bit better, but others have no chance at learning anything, they're just not the sharpest tools in the shed.
It is an interesting read for sure, I'm about 1/4 of the way through now. I still think giving birth to a genius would be a rare occurrence even if such sperm banks became more popular, because the genes from both parents are needed and a lot of possibilities still exist for the children not to end up nearly as smart as their parents.
@the_dutchess (2610)
• Philippines
10 Dec 08
wow, sounds cool. very interesting. i haven't read it but i'm planning to one of these days when i'm not that busy. yeah, i would agree with you. there's more to life than producing babies that are smart. it's like favoring someone than the other. and that's just simply not right. be equal and fair to all.
is it really nonfiction? sounds really scary then
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
10 Dec 08
Yes, it's non-fiction. But most names are changed so you can't really find out which scientists and other smart people bought into this plan.
What about when people go to the sperm bank and pick out a donor based on height, weight, race, or other physical features though? Is that the same type of discrimination or is it not as bad as wanting a smart baby?
Personally, I plan to adopt anyway, but this is all very fascinating. I am really curious to find out how and why the experiment eventually ended. Maybe something went horribly wrong.
@barehugs (8973)
• Canada
10 Dec 08
Your Post reminds me of Adolf Hitler in the 30's. His idea was to kill all the Jews and other unsatisfactory people in the Homeland and breed the best and brightest German youth. So Hitler killed Millions in his concentration camps, and only God knows how many Germans he succeeded in breeding. Life is not as simple as your book seems to make it. Anyway Hitler's ideas all came crashing down when Berlin fell to the Allied Forces in the spring of 1946.
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
10 Dec 08
Except that in this book, they are "breeding" people to be smarter. Not breeding people for a certain Aryan look. And the sperm bank wasn't planning to kill anyone, so far as I've read at least.
Before I end up with another post where I am misunderstood, I'd like to state that I am not yet sure if I'm in agreement with what this book is saying or not since I have not yet finished reading the entire work.
@messageme (2821)
• United States
11 Dec 08
I dont think its wrong you can chose the traits of the donor. However, I do think it is wrong that only intelligent woman can do it. I think it should be open to all women. There is families that have smart genes in them that get carried on and there are also families were there is a not so smart gene that gets carried on. I think those people should also be able to chose to make a difference in their family history and be able to chose a smart gene. Do I make any sense?
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
11 Dec 08
Yes, actually that makes perfect sense. And when you think about it, maybe that would do the greatest good. Because the smartest people in the world probably already only have children with other smart people for the most part. It seems like if the founder of this sperm bank really wanted to improve the gene pool as a whole he would have made the genius sperm available to everyone.
@pranavqrex (119)
• India
11 Dec 08
i have not read it but i think its just a fiction
books are not moraly wrong or right they are just peice of entertainment and nothing else
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
11 Dec 08
It's not fiction. Not all books have to be fiction. And even fictional books can cause you to consider some moral dilemmas. But for me, when they're nonfiction the message is stronger.
This sperm bank was started in the 1960s and apparently closed in 1999. It's not a fictional place, it actually existed and resulted in the births of about 200 children.
