Neanderthal cloning

[gfish]

Just saw a neat link talking about Neanderthal cloning. And I know this is my neophile, technocratic side talking, but my only response to the idea is an immediate "do it do it do it!"

Caveats: Assuming we have figured out the cloning of large mammals and have worked our way up through chimps with a high confidence of success. Obviously making deformed babies that die within hours of birth is bad. But that's just a technical problem which will be fixed eventually. At that point... why not? I really don't find the other arguments persuasive. The kids won't fit in? That was the argument a justice of the peace in Louisiana used last month to deny a marriage permit to an interracial couple! The fact that we won't learn about native Neanderthal culture is both stunningly obvious and irrelevant. There is still so much we could learn about their capabilities. Really, the suggestion that we clone a bunch and put them in a little paleolithic enclave is the most revolting "solution" in the article. What an ugly idea, forcing sentients to live a squalid life under the excuse of keeping them "natural".

Comments

[gfish.livejournal.com]

Oh, they'd probably be stunningly ugly by modern human standards. They're literally troglodytes, after all. But I'm really not sure that's a reason not to make them. The people who raised them would certainly love them. We'd probably want to make enough to provide breeding opportunities for them. I think that's the only substantial moral quandary to be faced -- creating just one would be implicitly denying them the basic human right of finding a mate. Not being thought ugly by the majority culture just doesn't rank on the same level to me.

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

This (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ugly_Little_Boy) is what I immediately thought of.

[gfish.livejournal.com]

Hee, yes! I couldn't remember the name of it. Great story.

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

Weirdly, I was just talking to someone about it yesterday.