Eugenics
noun
The study aimed at improving the genetic qualities of the human species by promoting certain traits and minimizing others.
The rise of eugenics in the early 20th century was seen by some as a way to improve society.
Often appears as...
- early eugenics
- eugenics movement
Usage tips
Formal, Disapproving
Academic
noun
The study aimed at improving the genetic qualities of the human species by promoting certain traits and minimizing others.
The rise of eugenics in the early 20th century was seen by some as a way to improve society.
Often appears as...
- early eugenics
- eugenics movement
Usage tips
Formal, Disapproving
Academic
Definition 1 of 1
Pro Tip 1/3Controversial Legacy
Eugenics is often associated with unethical practices and racism from the past.
The eugenics policies of the 1930s are widely condemned today.
Pro Tip 2/3Positive vs. Negative
Eugenics can have 'positive' aspects, encouraging traits, or 'negative,' trying to eliminate them.
Positive eugenics encouraged large, healthy families.
Pro Tip 3/3Ethical Implications
Discussions about eugenics can quickly become sensitive due to its ethical implications.
Gene editing technologies have reignited debates over eugenics.
Pro Tip 1/3Controversial Legacy
Eugenics is often associated with unethical practices and racism from the past.
The eugenics policies of the 1930s are widely condemned today.
Pro Tip 2/3Positive vs. Negative
Eugenics can have 'positive' aspects, encouraging traits, or 'negative,' trying to eliminate them.
Positive eugenics encouraged large, healthy families.
Pro Tip 3/3Ethical Implications
Discussions about eugenics can quickly become sensitive due to its ethical implications.
Gene editing technologies have reignited debates over eugenics.
Pro Tip 1/3Controversial Legacy
Eugenics is often associated with unethical practices and racism from the past.
The eugenics policies of the 1930s are widely condemned today.
Pro Tip 2/3Positive vs. Negative
Eugenics can have 'positive' aspects, encouraging traits, or 'negative,' trying to eliminate them.
Positive eugenics encouraged large, healthy families.
Pro Tip 3/3Ethical Implications
Discussions about eugenics can quickly become sensitive due to its ethical implications.
Gene editing technologies have reignited debates over eugenics.
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Video examples
The dark history of IQ...
There were many problems with this line of thinking, among them the idea that intelligence was not only fixed and inherited, but also linked to a person’s race. Under the influence of eugenics, scientists used the results of the military initiative to make erroneous claims that certain racial groups
Video examples
The ethical dilemma of...
who we are today. And some think there's like a social Darwinism at work in our world, and maybe even a eugenics as well. Imagine those trends, those forces,
Video examples
The dark history of IQ...
There were many problems with this line of thinking, among them the idea that intelligence was not only fixed and inherited, but also linked to a person’s race. Under the influence of eugenics, scientists used the results of the military initiative to make erroneous claims that certain racial groups
Video examples
The ethical dilemma of...
who we are today. And some think there's like a social Darwinism at work in our world, and maybe even a eugenics as well. Imagine those trends, those forces,
Example 1 of 2
Quote examples
Nikola Tesla
Inventor
The year 2100 will see eugenics universally established. In past ages, the law governing the survival of the fittest roughly weeded out the less desirable strains. Then man's new sense of pity began to interfere with the ruthless workings of nature. As a result, we continue to keep alive and to breed the unfit.
Quote examples
Gary Wolf
American Journalist
Though social eugenics was discredited long ago, we still often think of the genome in quasi-eugenic terms. When we read about the latest discovery of a link between a gene and a disease, we imagine that we've learned the cause of the disease, and we may even think we'll get a cure by fixing the gene.
Quote examples
Diane Ackerman
American Poet
We're dabbling in eugenics all the time, breeding ideal crops to replace less aesthetic or nutritious or hardy varieties; leveling forests to graze cattle or erect shopping malls and condos; planting groves of a few familiar trees that homeowners and industries prefer.
Quote examples
Kevin Young
The mid-eighteen-thirties marked the rise of eugenics and racialism, with phrenology emerging as just one of the many pseudosciences that sought to enact, reinforce, and restrict racial difference.
Quote examples
Gregory Benford
American Physicist
The earliest depiction of libertarian eugenics may have appeared in a science fiction novel, Robert Heinlein's 1942 tale 'Beyond This Horizon.
Quote examples
Nikola Tesla
Inventor
The year 2100 will see eugenics universally established. In past ages, the law governing the survival of the fittest roughly weeded out the less desirable strains. Then man's new sense of pity began to interfere with the ruthless workings of nature. As a result, we continue to keep alive and to breed the unfit.
Quote examples
Gary Wolf
American Journalist
Though social eugenics was discredited long ago, we still often think of the genome in quasi-eugenic terms. When we read about the latest discovery of a link between a gene and a disease, we imagine that we've learned the cause of the disease, and we may even think we'll get a cure by fixing the gene.
Quote examples
Diane Ackerman
American Poet
We're dabbling in eugenics all the time, breeding ideal crops to replace less aesthetic or nutritious or hardy varieties; leveling forests to graze cattle or erect shopping malls and condos; planting groves of a few familiar trees that homeowners and industries prefer.
Quote examples
Kevin Young
The mid-eighteen-thirties marked the rise of eugenics and racialism, with phrenology emerging as just one of the many pseudosciences that sought to enact, reinforce, and restrict racial difference.
Quote examples
Gregory Benford
American Physicist
The earliest depiction of libertarian eugenics may have appeared in a science fiction novel, Robert Heinlein's 1942 tale 'Beyond This Horizon.
Example 1 of 5
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