The Uncalculated Consequences of Biotechnology

Samuel Murray

Dr. Evelyne Weeks

CRTW 201

November 5, 2009

The Uncalculated Consequences of Biotechnology

With every choice made, there is a consequence.   Sometimes, the consequence is the desired consequence and sometimes it is not.   Sometimes the desired consequence is achieved and then later down the road other consequences result that were unexpected.   It seems like every time I turn on the TV there is a new commercial that starts with the famous phrase, “If you or someone you know has taken the prescription…” The law firms represented in these commercials make a living off of unexpected consequences.   In Francis Fukuyama’s Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution, Fukuyama brings up some of the unexpected consequences that biotechnology will have on the human race.   Biotechnology seems like a great idea, but because of the unexpected consequences that will inevitably come in the area of human genetic engineering, the area of biotechnology and humans should not include children.
Limiting children’s creativity is already becoming an unforeseen consequence of biotechnology.   Children, which seem to be overly hyperactive, are too often diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).   What use to be commonplace in society, children spending large portions of their day outside playing, is now becoming rare and unusual.   Therefore, pent up energy is poring over into class and is seen as fidgeting and socially unacceptable and must be dealt with.   Fukuyama took a stance on this issue regarding Ritalin to control ADHD, when he said “The impulse to master human nature out of simple ambition or on the basis of ideological assumptions about the way people ought to be is all too common” (Fukuyama 94).   This unexpected consequence that limits children’s creativity is also illustrated in Andrew Niccol’s film, Gattaca.   In the film, Gattaca, citizens who are not genetically engineered are filtered into mindless labor...