Maybe the time is not quite yet. Maybe genetic mapping services have to improve a bit more, and public opinion has to shift somewhat, but if the conditions ever align, I’ll probably take a shot at it. Biotech is the next great frontier after all, and that’s where I’d like to be.
Ah, sounds like you’re into eugenics. Do you believe humans are wise enough to determine what traits are favorable?
Increased longevity, for instance, seems short-sighted. We already have extreme population growth. While natural survival instincts strive to fight death, what’s the net benefit to society of helping more people make it through their 90s?
Phases like childhood and parenthood would become smaller fractions of life, does extending old age make your overall life experience better? Would society progress as quickly with more old people around?
This inequality between lifespans is going to become a much greater concern for humans in the future, you will see. Perhaps it will become most noticeable as the baby boomers begin to die.
Also, I think society could progress even faster if the wisdom and experience of old people can be harnessed and not just tossed aside as “antiquated”. We need to rethink the way we think about the elderly, because one day those elderly will be us.
> We need to rethink the way we think about the elderly, because one day those elderly will be us.
I find this Western fear of death to be toxic. One day we'll grow old and die - and that's ok, that's how life works.
I personally don’t believe either of those things should be limited, I simply believe people with good genes should have an easy way to match with each other and form a relationship. That’s it. Society will take care of the rest.
That's status quo bias [1]. If you want to die, nobody will stop you – but don't force your decision onto others.
If I recall correctly, the described humans were living spans greater than 400 years, among other traits, after a handful of generations.
If something as ambitious as Deep Space is your goal, you're probably better off engineering people to make the trip rather than waiting for technology that may never materialize.
Actually, many Western countries have the opposite and need large-scale immigration (along with all the societal problems this brings) to maintain their population numbers.
People with excellent genetic traits need some sort of advantage to meet each other. The movie Idiocracy may have been a satirical comedy, but its message is actually not far from the truth of where we’re heading if someone doesn’t do something about improving the gene pool. To me, that is way more terrifying than genetically conscious dating.
There's nothing that stops any people from "breeding promiscuously", provided they find suitable and willing partner. It is when you start talking about who is worth access to reproduction and who is too genetically inferior to be allowed that is where trouble starts. The humanity has terrible track record with this. Surely, you say, this time it would be different - we have The Science on our side which won't lead us astray! Which would be very reassuring, if only that wasn't the same thing, word for word, that was said in all previous attempts.
> People with excellent genetic traits need some sort of advantage to meet each other.
Why? If they're so excellent, they may find each other using their own excellent facilities. While it still sounds terrifying and offputting, I have no problem with people trying things that are terrifying and offputting to me in their own bedrooms. It's when this is proposed as some kind of societal norm where the really terrifying part begins, because we've been on that road, and not once, and we know it leads to hell.
I can't help but think people are reading some form of government mandate argument from their preference when they haven't mentioned one.
I like swimming. I don't think anyone should be forced to swim nor that its the governments business to increase swimming.
That guy wants to filter partners by their long term health potential. I don't see any reason to believe he thinks people should be forced to do the same nor that he thinks it's the governments business.
To me an appropriate analogy would be if burkas were the norm for everyone, some guy was all "I wish we could easily see peoples faces when trying to date. I have a really attractive face and I'd like a partner with the same", then someone was all "the government will get involved!"
How and why? Prevent uglies from dating hotties? The market already does a decent job of that.
There's no department for "dating profile height fraud".
No one cries "eugenics!" at being able to see how attractive your partner is.
Wait. I thought long-term relationships were due to love/care, sacrifice, hard work, a common goal.
Color Dating (http://www.colordatingapp.com/) lets you match by race/ethnicity.
Muzmatch (https://muzmatch.com/) has features needed by Muslims.
[All 3 are YC-funded]