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[ouroboros]

Just finished watching the new episode of Vice on HBO.  The second part was about PGD(preimplantation genetic diagnosis) where you can remove and fertilize a number of human egg cells in a controlled environment, and do a genetic evaluation to "pick and choose" the embryo with the most desired traits, eg. sex, eye color, height, weight(similar to the movie Gattaca).  This technology is supposed to be mainstream in about 5 years.   I guess that means that our children won't have to worry about LL because they will be preselected to be tall, LOL.     

One thing I found pretty funny is the way that the hottie female host Isobel Yeung, got all "wet" when the doc she interviewed confirmed that "height" was going to be a trait that will be preselected by future parents.  I guess she said fck it to being politically correct about genetic engineering if it meant eliminating short people from the human race.   

Have a look at the program if you have HBO, or it should be up on youtube in a few hours.

[Vendetta113]

Doubt this would become mainstream. This is genetic engineering we're talking about. It's most likely going to be extremely expensive, if not outright illegal. Besides, I don't think 2nd-3rd world countries are going to care about this.

Even if short men were to go extinct right now at this very moment, as long as short women exist, short men will continue to exist. Also, even if the child's height is preselected to become tall, mutations and other factors will still play in how tall the child is going to be.

[TIBIKE200]

Just finished watching the new episode of Vice on HBO.  The second part was about PGD(preimplantation genetic diagnosis) where you can remove and fertilize a number of human egg cells in a controlled environment, and do a genetic evaluation to "pick and choose" the embryo with the most desired traits, eg. sex, eye color, height, weight(similar to the movie Gattaca).  This technology is supposed to be mainstream in about 5 years.   I guess that means that our children won't have to worry about LL because they will be preselected to be tall, LOL.     

One thing I found pretty funny is the way that the hottie female host Isobel Yeung, got all "wet" when the doc she interviewed confirmed that "height" was going to be a trait that will be preselected by future parents.  I guess she said fck it to being politically correct about genetic engineering if it meant eliminating short people from the human race.   

Have a look at the program if you have HBO, or it should be up on youtube in a few hours.

 Are you sure she really got all that "wet" and you didnt just overly focused on that part? What did she say when he told her that in the future everyone will be tall?

[ouroboros]

Are you sure she really got all that "wet" and you didnt just overly focused on that part? What did she say when he told her that in the future everyone will be tall?

Her reaction when she heard "height" was pure disbelief.  She had to ask the doctor a second time to confirm that she actually heard height.   
Her body language is a dead giveaway during this whole incident.

When she heard you can preselect eye color, screen for diseases, etc., that did not faze her, but height was the one that did it for her.  I'm surprised they didn't mention skin color, or at least tone, because then we would have a riot the next day.   But apparently it's ok to consider height discrimination politically correct.

The episode will be airing again at 5am eastern standard time Sunday in the U.S. for those that have HBO.   

[Alu]

Her reaction when she heard "height" was pure disbelief.  She had to ask the doctor a second time to confirm that she actually heard height.   
Her body language is a dead giveaway during this whole incident.

When she heard you can preselect eye color, screen for diseases, etc., that did not faze her, but height was the one that did it for her.  I'm surprised they didn't mention skin color, or at least tone, because then we would have a riot the next day.   But apparently it's ok to consider height discrimination politically correct.

The episode will be airing again at 5am eastern standard time Sunday in the U.S. for those that have HBO.

Funny that someone who isn't objectionably short is offended by this so much...

Either way I saw it and noooo lol. It was more like a follow up question for a statement the doctor made. She seemed much more surprised by how little time it will take until height can genetically modified, rather then joy at modifying height itself.

This leads to other points; Wouldn't women benefit just a much from this procedure as males? Why assume she was being discriminatory against guys? Also what pleasure can she, or anyone on this current generation have from genetically modified children that are going to be conceived by THIS generation? There wouldn't be anything wrong it slowly increasing the populations height across the board..

Lastly, considering the procedure, this really won't effect most of us that much...I doubt the national height average for males (in the U.S) is going to skyrocket to 6'0 in the next 100 years. If anything it might be our children (or grandchildren) who have to deal with this burden; but if you think about it logically, at that point wouldn't they also have the same opportunity to be taller? At least it might get rid of any awkward moments where our children won't be as tall as us because we artificially enhanced our height; so to that end, I welcome this advancement. If only because it also does more meaningful good....like eradicating actual diseases...

[ouroboros]

Funny that someone who isn't objectionably short is offended by this so much...

Either way I saw it and noooo lol. It was more like a follow up question for a statement the doctor made. She seemed much more surprised by how little time it will take until height can genetically modified, rather then joy at modifying height itself.

This leads to other points; Wouldn't women benefit just a much from this procedure as males? Why assume she was being discriminatory against guys? Also what pleasure can she, or anyone on this current generation have from genetically modified children that are going to be conceived by THIS generation? There wouldn't be anything wrong it slowly increasing the populations height across the board..

Lastly, considering the procedure, this really won't effect most of us that much...I doubt the national height average for males (in the U.S) is going to skyrocket to 6'0 in the next 100 years. If anything it might be our children (or grandchildren) who have to deal with this burden; but if you think about it logically, at that point wouldn't they also have the same opportunity to be taller? At least it might get rid of any awkward moments where our children won't be as tall as us because we artificially enhanced our height; so to that end, I welcome this advancement. If only because it also does more meaningful good....like eradicating actual diseases...

I welcome this advancement too, it's good for the greater good of humanity.  Unfortunately there are going to be abuses of this.

I just found it interesting that they were so comfortable and excited talking about eliminating "shortness" with this technology. 

[Alu]

I welcome this advancement too, it's good for the greater good of humanity.  Unfortunately there are going to be abuses of this.

I just found it interesting that they were so comfortable and excited talking about eliminating "shortness" with this technology.

To each their own..but it certainly wasn't really about eliminating that trait/quality in the general population

[Penguinn]

Something so rare, unheard of and complex becoming "mainstream" or affordable to over 0.001% people in 5 years is impossible. But even if hell freezes and it does happen, I doubt many people would risk doing something so complex rather than just have their baby. Most people will think "let's see how this turns out for others first" and by the time they find out, they'll be past baby-making age.

Maybe in 20-25 years.

[TIBIKE200]

I think that by shortness they meant eliminating extreme cases of shortness and not those that fall within the spectrum of normality... Also, there something like 150 genes controlling height.. So I dont think it will be possible to control them... Same with weight and many other traits...

[ouroboros]

I think that by shortness they meant eliminating extreme cases of shortness and not those that fall within the spectrum of normality... Also, there something like 150 genes controlling height.. So I dont think it will be possible to control them... Same with weight and many other traits...

It's actually quite scary when you think about what they are doing.   One part of the program talks about the research that is going on with mice and how humans share 85% of the genetic code with them.   In their lab, they have mice that are bred completely bald, others missing the metabolism gene so they gain a lot of weight.   Human testing is not too far away in the future.

These are a couple of quotes that I like from the program.....

"There is the danger of more advantaged people in society today becoming even more advantaged, and that is very dangerous"

"If you have a time machine, and you travel 1000 years into the future, and brought a child back to today, that kid would be superman"

[TIBIKE200]

It's actually quite scary when you think about what they are doing.   One part of the program talks about the research that is going on with mice and how humans share 85% of the genetic code with them.   In their lab, they have mice that are bred completely bald, others missing the metabolism gene so they gain a lot of weight.   Human testing is not too far away in the future.

These are a couple of quotes that I like from the program.....

"There is the danger of more advantaged people in society today becoming even more advantaged, and that is very dangerous"

"If you have a time machine, and you travel 1000 years into the future, and brought a child back to today, that kid would be superman"

  I dont know who are those advantaged people today.. The rich? Maybe in america which is super capitalistic and materialistic.. Europe is also going in that direction but it's still not at the level of where america is today... Even the height and women attraction... According to the researches that were conducted in american colleges and society I should have remained a virgin at my 5'7 or atleast only date obese chicks... That is not the case... And I also see ugly short dudes with beautiful girls here... Which means that these statistics are not reppresenting reality (Atleast not in the parts of Europe I have been to or Israel). I think that the real problem is not our height, but American society (and what is simbolizes) to be honest...

[Vendetta113]

   I think that the real problem is not our height, but American society (and what is simbolizes) to be honest...

This so much. Before American media became so mainstream, Asian countries like Korea, Japan, and China were not very superficial. In fact, my grandparents showed me pictures of his Japanese and Chinese friends with their tallete wives. The men were short, somewhere around 5'4-5'6 and their wives were somewhere like 5'7-5'9. Mind you, the picture my grandfather showed me were from the '50s-60's. So what does that mean? Women who weren't exposed to American films/media couldn't care less about the height of their male counterparts.

^{I'm actually thinking of moving to Canada to increase my chances after my LLS. Maybe France too but there is so much   going on right now.}

[ouroboros]

^{I'm actually thinking of moving to Canada to increase my chances after my LLS. Maybe France too but there is so much crap going on right now.}

Don't know about France, but in Canada heightism is alive and well.   There is a large English, Dutch, Polish, etc., immigrant population.   In my building, I'm the only person that is not Serbian.

That being said, there are also certain areas where there are other ethnicity groups but only in the biggest cities.     

[Vendetta113]

Meh, I'm Filipino. I can probably blend in with the other fellow Asians or Latinos in Vancouver. I'm considering moving to Hawaii, too.

[IwannaBeTaller]

One thing I found pretty funny is the way that the hottie female host Isobel Yeung, got all "wet" when the doc she interviewed confirmed that "height" was going to be a trait that will be preselected by future parents.  I guess she said fck it to being politically correct about genetic engineering if it meant eliminating short people from the human race.

I really hope this statement of yours isn't going into the direction of the theory "women are hard-wired to be extremely attracted to tall men because they inherently seek the highest-quality genetic material for their offspring, all women, whether they will tell you or not, actually want a really tall partner." Because I think that's bull . Now I don't know the reaction of the lady you were talking about, but shallow people simply exist, they are a real thing, but they don't represent all men or women. And you shouldn't really hate people for having preferences - I know this feeling of course - I have often felt disgust towards a woman who shows she reallly likes tall dudes, but in my logical opinion, she should be allowed to have preferences, because I have them too. What I would find bad is when this "must be tall" preference would be extremely vital to her, and not just one thing out of several that she likes. But again, I don't believe this represents the majority of women.

I welcome this advancement too, it's good for the greater good of humanity.  Unfortunately there are going to be abuses of this.

I'm no expert on the subject, but I'm critical of these trends. When it helps to eliminate serious issues such as medical conditions, or diseases, these genetic advancements could be beneficial, but I think that genetic variety is a good thing. It can help to shield humanity as a whole from genetic disorders, diseases and other disadvantages. The whole thing about selecting which trait is better and which deserves to die out is highly serious and questionable, and history has shown us it can also be dangerous. It's the dystopian fantasy from "Brave New World". From a personal standpoint, I love diversity and I'm thankful for all men and women who are my height or shorter.

[BelowTheMean]

Downloading this episode. Will watch it later. I can't decide if this is more or less of a reason to get LL. I guess it depends if it's possible to have a tall kid with this method if both parents are short! If it isn't, then you'd still need to get LL to help get a taller wife to get taller kids. Of course if you don't want kids then this is completely irrelevant.

[ouroboros]

Downloading this episode. Will watch it later. I can't decide if this is more or less of a reason to get LL. I guess it depends if it's possible to have a tall kid with this method if both parents are short! If it isn't, then you'd still need to get LL to help get a taller wife to get taller kids. Of course if you don't want kids then this is completely irrelevant.

All this stuff probably sounds like science fiction to most, but it looks like it might become reality very soon.

As they continue to map the genetic code, they should be able to isolate the gene that controls your predetermined height, destroy it, and replace it with a mutated version of a desired height potential.

We think that this technology is being developed to help humanity, but in reality is being designed for selective population control, which will allow the "privileged few" to live longer, in a less populated planet that is running low on natural resources to continue existing.

I know this sounds like a conspiracy theory, but I just can't trust humanity and greed.

[BelowTheMean]

After watching it I don't think she acted that differently when he mentioned controlling height. Though considering what forum this is I guess most of us are a little sensitive on the topic.

[wants2growtaller]

Im a short person living in Canada. And I can testify that Canada is one of the most superficial country there is. Looks matter here. And people here do get treated based on looks. If you are short ANd a minority you will go nowhere in life. Its sad. But its true.