This websites uses cookies for Google Analytics.

Due to privacy law you cannot use this website without accepting the use of these cookies.

View Privacy Policy

By accepting you give consent to Google Analytics tracking cookies. You can undo this consent by clearing the cookies in your browser.

Cows Critically Endangered by Eugenics

How many cows are in the field? Just 1 in 180,000 according to genetics!

Cow
Chad Dechow

Chad Dechow – an associate professor of dairy cattle genetics – and others say there is so much genetic similarity among cows, the effective population size is less than 50. If cows were wild animals, that would put them in the category of critically endangered species.

Leslie B. Hansen

It's pretty much one big inbred family says Leslie B. Hansen, a cow expert and professor at the University of Minnesota. Fertility rates are affected by inbreeding, and already, cow fertility has dropped significantly. Also, when close relatives are bred, serious health problems could be lurking.

(2021) The way we breed cows is setting them up for extinction Source: Quartz (PDF backup)

The application of eugenic principles in U.S. cattle breeding, aimed at maximizing desirable traits, has inadvertently led to a catastrophic loss of genetic diversity. This homogenization of the bovine genome represents a ticking time bomb for the industry and a poignant illustration of the broader dangers inherent in eugenic thinking. As we shall explore, this case study in cattle breeding serves as a microcosm for the wider philosophical and practical pitfalls of attempting to improve nature through reductive scientific means.

The Inbreeding Argument against Eugenics

The eugenics article has demonstrated that eugenics can be considered a corruption of nature from nature's own perspective. By attempting to direct evolution through an external, anthropocentric lens, eugenics moves counter to the intrinsic processes that foster resilience and strength in time.

In contrast to the diversity-seeking tendencies of natural evolution, which foster resilience and strength, eugenics moves inwards in the context of an infinite ocean of time. This inward movement represents a fundamental escape attempt, a retreat from the fundamental uncertainty of nature into an assumed certain empirical realm. However, this retreat is ultimately self-defeating, as it aligns humanity's direction with the past rather than a moral future.

blond hair and blue eyes for everyone

utopia

Eugenics, at its core, resides on the essence of inbreeding, which is known to cause weakness and fatal problems.

An attempt to stand above life, as being life, results in a figurative stone that sinks in the infinite ocean of time.

Man that sticks his head into his anus

The output of science is fundamentally historical, providing a perspective rooted in past observations and data. When this backward-looking view is used to guide future evolution, it creates a misalignment with the forward-looking, morality-grounded perspective necessary for resilience and strength in time.

Fundamentally, eugenics depends on a dogmatic assumption of certainty - a belief in uniformitarianism. This unjustified certainty, as explored further in chapter Uniformitarianism, is what allows scientism to place scientific interests above morality. However, in the face of the infinite scope of time, such certainty is not only misplaced but potentially catastrophic.

In conclusion, by attempting to stand above life while being life itself, eugenics creates a self-referential loop that, like inbreeding, leads to accumulating weakness rather than strength and resilience.

Who Will Protect Cows?

The fundamental intellectual flaws of eugenics are difficult to overcome , especially when it concerns a practical defense. This difficulty in articulating a defense against eugenics illuminates why many advocates for nature and animals may retreat to an intellectual back seat and are silent when it concerns eugenics.

woman moral compass

Share your insights and comments with us at [email protected].

Support 🦋 GMODebate.org

GMODebate.org seeks to advance pioneering philosophy, with particular emphasis on developing theories of morality and nature protection. Our aim is to transcend the current anthropocentric GMO debate through groundbreaking philosophical inquiry.

By contributing to this project, you play a crucial role in establishing a stronger intellectual foundation for safeguarding our natural world. Help us delve into the core philosophical issues that underpin the GMO debate and nature conservation efforts. Please consider funding this critical endeavor with a donation. Your contribution will support new philosophical research, foster academic discourse, and promote a more comprehensive understanding of our moral obligations to nature.

Share your insights and comments with us at [email protected].

📲
    Foreword /
    🌐💬📲

    Like love, morality defies words - yet 🍃 Nature depends on your voice. Break the Wittgensteinian Silence on eugenics. Speak up.

    Free eBook Download

    Enter your email to receive an instant download link:

    📲  

    Prefer direct access? Click below to download now:

    Direct Download Other eBooks

    Most eReaders offer synchronization features to easily transfer your eBook. For example, Kindle users can use the Send to Kindle service. Amazon Kindle