No I’m not a fascist (at least I hope not…)

I’m trying to understand why we’ve normalised the idea of eugenics in dogs (e.g. golden retrievers are friendly and smart, chihuahas are aggressive, etc.)¹ but find the idea of racial classification in humans abhorrent.

I can sort of see it from the idea that Nurture (culture and upbringing) would have a greater effect on a human’s characteristics than Nature would.

At the same time, my family tree has many twins and I’ve noticed that the identical ones have similar outcomes in life, whereas the fraternal ones (even the ones that look very similar) don’t really (N=3).

Maybe dog culture is not a thing, and that’s why people are happy to make these sweeping generalizations on dog characterics?

I’m lost a little

1: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/df/74/f7/df74f716c3a70f59aeb468152e4be927.png

  • idiomaddict@feddit.de
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    11
    ·
    9 months ago

    Even in humans, we occasionally exercise “selective breeding,” like when potential carriers of Tay-Sachs (an absolutely horrific disease which mostly affects people with Ashkenazi heritage, and whose sufferers have an expected lifespan of a few years of horrible pain) and their partners choose to be tested before deciding whether or not to have children. Even with the context that mostly Jewish peoples’ genes are tested to see if they should have children, it’s not considered eugenics, because it’s an entirely voluntary process. Even if two people are both carriers, they aren’t prevented from having children, nor is their genetic predisposition shared with anyone.

    Incest laws are essentially a way to restrict peoples’ choice of partner to ensure genetic vigor (that’s why they’re different for relationships which could and could not produce children). Even that’s not generally considered a form of eugenics, because it applies to people, without regard to their specific genes.

    • tetris11@lemmy.mlOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      9 months ago

      True, and I know that in Cyprus – prospective parents have to first get blood tests proving that they’re both not carriers for Thalassemia