Oh, and regarding disability screenings: as a general rule of thumb, I’d say it’s okay unless there exist many adults with that particular disability who prefer to go on having it rather than be “cured”. For example, I would be extremely wary of aborting intersex fetuses, or those likely to have any kind of cognitive disorder.
I’ll point out that this policy involves a kind of historical contingency that might be problematic.
That is, to pick an extreme example for clarity: if in 1900 ~100% of people with property X choose to have it “cured,” and in 2000 ~100% of people with property X choose to go on having it, it seems to follow that you endorse preventing their births in 1900 but not in 2000. Of course, if the program of preventing their births in 1900 is actually implemented, then there aren’t any people with property X in 2000, and so their births get prevented as well, even though (in some weird counterfactual sense) you don’t endorse that.
I’m not sure how much that actually matters, but it seems at least worth acknowledging.
Any action you take prevents the birth of an infinite number of counterfactual future humans. If you’re going to analyze things this way, you’ll have to estimate e.g. whether the total number of people born, and their utilities, in scenario 1 (people with X are born in 1900) are greater than in scenario 2 (people with X not born).
That sort of preference seems equivalent to preferring to be hit over the head with a baseball bat to me.
Which is difference more in connotative judgement than in nature from preferring to be tied up and hit with straps and various leather paraphernalia...
The preference is evidence that the “disability” really isn’t, like homosexuality.
It can also be evidence that humans use ‘sour grapes’ as a coping mechanism.
Near one end of the spectrum of advantage, novel difference and unambiguous disorder is schizophrenia. There are those who declare that cognitive problem to be just a difference to be embraced or even something that can produce special success but I claim it is something that really is purely a negative thing. People can be successful despite schizophrenia, but not because of it. I would not make the same judgement with respect to, say, ADHD or Aspergers.
Oh, and regarding disability screenings: as a general rule of thumb, I’d say it’s okay unless there exist many adults with that particular disability who prefer to go on having it rather than be “cured”. For example, I would be extremely wary of aborting intersex fetuses, or those likely to have any kind of cognitive disorder.
I’ll point out that this policy involves a kind of historical contingency that might be problematic.
That is, to pick an extreme example for clarity: if in 1900 ~100% of people with property X choose to have it “cured,” and in 2000 ~100% of people with property X choose to go on having it, it seems to follow that you endorse preventing their births in 1900 but not in 2000. Of course, if the program of preventing their births in 1900 is actually implemented, then there aren’t any people with property X in 2000, and so their births get prevented as well, even though (in some weird counterfactual sense) you don’t endorse that.
I’m not sure how much that actually matters, but it seems at least worth acknowledging.
Any action you take prevents the birth of an infinite number of counterfactual future humans. If you’re going to analyze things this way, you’ll have to estimate e.g. whether the total number of people born, and their utilities, in scenario 1 (people with X are born in 1900) are greater than in scenario 2 (people with X not born).
That’s certainly true, but I don’t understand how it relates to the policy I was referring to (Pavitra’s in the great-grandparent).
The usefulness of the rule of thumb relies in part on that mostly not happening.
That sort of preference seems equivalent to preferring to be hit over the head with a baseball bat to me.
Which is difference more in connotative judgement than in nature from preferring to be tied up and hit with straps and various leather paraphernalia...
You mean “which is different”, right?
Edit: if ‘which is difference’ isn’t a typo then I can’t parse your sentence...
The preference is evidence that the “disability” really isn’t, like homosexuality.
It can also be evidence that humans use ‘sour grapes’ as a coping mechanism.
Near one end of the spectrum of advantage, novel difference and unambiguous disorder is schizophrenia. There are those who declare that cognitive problem to be just a difference to be embraced or even something that can produce special success but I claim it is something that really is purely a negative thing. People can be successful despite schizophrenia, but not because of it. I would not make the same judgement with respect to, say, ADHD or Aspergers.
I am influenced, for example, by this Stanford lecture.