Редактирование: Criticism of transhumanism (раздел)

== The view that transhumanism is a restatement of the discredited concept of eugenics ==
''Main: [[Eugenics]]''

Some critics assert that transhumanists are "guilty by association" with ideas adopted by the Nazis. The argument runs as follows:

* Transhumanists are open to the idea of genetic modification
* Historically, genetic modification is associated with the name "[[eugenics]]" as practised by racists and fascists (e.g. the Nazis)
* Transhumanists are, therefore, indirectly guilty of racism and fascism.

Transhumanists can reply that similar arguments would indict any practice of vegetarianism or opposition to tobacco, since both these causes were (like eugenics) favoured by Adolf Hitler. Arguments of this "by association" type have no validity.

More specifically, transhumanists can observe a key difference between voluntary and involuntary eugenics:

* Involuntary eugenics involves people being forcibly prevented from having children
* Transhumanist eugenics involves providing greater genetic choice to everyone.

Saying we should reject genetic modification because of Nazi eugenics makes as little sense as saying we should reject education because of the horrors of Pol Pot's re-education camps. The problem in both cases is close-minded totalitarianism not technology.

Indeed, voluntary eugenics can, with care, be used in ways that everyone benefits:
* Rather than children being designed as “dumbed down” (like the "epsilon" class in the novel [[Brave New World]]), genetic precursors for positive features could be selectively accentuated, including creativity, sociability, generosity, open-mindedness, musicality, and persistence
* It’s not just new generations that can be enhanced in this way, but existing people from earlier generations, who could have their genetic makeup incrementally upgraded, helping them to overcome some of their innate negative dispositions.