Artificial Wombs: Will Society Manipulate Births?

  • Thread starter Thread starter selfAdjoint
  • Start date Start date
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the potential implications of artificial womb technology on society, particularly regarding gestation and the manipulation of births. Participants explore the theoretical, ethical, and social ramifications of this technology, considering its feasibility and societal acceptance.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest that artificial wombs could render many arguments about abortion moot and optimize the fetal environment.
  • One participant proposes a scenario where artificial wombs could lead to "generation ships," where gametes are used to conceive babies without the need for adults.
  • Another participant expresses skepticism about the immediate feasibility of artificial wombs, citing biological difficulties and the continued preference for traditional pregnancies.
  • Concerns are raised about the potential for societal manipulation of births, with varying interpretations of what that manipulation might entail.
  • Some participants argue that historical trends indicate a movement towards greater individual choice regarding reproduction, suggesting that regulation will evolve alongside the technology.
  • There is a discussion about the implications of technological advancements in countries like China and India, which may not align with their economic development.
  • Speculation about future societal structures and governance is introduced, with concerns about dictatorship and control in a technologically advanced world.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of views on the feasibility and societal implications of artificial womb technology. There is no consensus on whether it will replace traditional gestation or how society will regulate its use.

Contextual Notes

Participants acknowledge the limitations of their projections about the future, recognizing the presence of unknown factors that could significantly alter outcomes. There is also a distinction made between technological advancement and economic or political development.

selfAdjoint
Staff Emeritus
Gold Member
Dearly Missed
Messages
6,843
Reaction score
11
The first test-tube baby is now thirty year old, and a healthy intelligent woman. In vitro fertilization is old technology. So the next development will be to take the fetus to term in an extra-biological device. Aside from rendering most of the arguments about abortion moot, this will enable the optimization (hopefully) of the fetal environment, Of course there will be a furious protest, not all of it purely Luddite.

Question. Will this technology, as several science fiction authors have suggested, relace normal gestation in advanced societies? Will it lead to manipulation of births by society. Give your opinions.
 
Biology news on Phys.org
Originally posted by selfAdjoint
The first test-tube baby is now thirty year old, and a healthy intelligent woman. In vitro fertilization is old technology. So the next development will be to take the fetus to term in an extra-biological device. Aside from rendering most of the arguments about abortion moot, this will enable the optimization (hopefully) of the fetal environment, Of course there will be a furious protest, not all of it purely Luddite.

Question. Will this technology, as several science fiction authors have suggested, relace normal gestation in advanced societies? Will it lead to manipulation of births by society. Give your opinions.

Well, one science-fictiony result that I can think of is a revision on the idea of "generation ships". In this case, there needn't be a set of adults, but merely the gamete cells and the artifical womb, in order to concieve the babies; and then an AI "teacher" can raise them.

Just an idea, but it could have serious meaning, of the Earth begins to become uninhabitable.
 
i know that i am out of the loop as far as cloning and such technologies go, but is cloning legal in the US?

also, i think that many of the science fiction thing that we hear/read/watch about, will probably be a reality one day, but unless i don't know if you could ever completely count out a mother, because women have the need/instinct to take care of there kids, and well what your saying my become the future of schooling, or baby sitting, i don't think it would completely replace mothers.

i really didn't understand what position you took, but how do you feel about "machine child-raising"?
 
Will this technology, as several science fiction authors have suggested, relace normal gestation in advanced societies?
Yes, partly. There'll still be lots and lots of women who will want to have a 'normal' pregnancy. However, IMHO, 'extra-biological gestation' won't happen in my lifetime; too many (biological) difficulties, and the alternatives (including surrogate mothers) will remain cheaper for a very long time.

(BTW, nit-picking; shouldn't that be 'economically developed' instead of 'advanced'?)

Will it lead to manipulation of births by society?
Depends on what 'manipulation [...] by society' means. There would certainly be a wide variety of attempts to regulate the extra-biological gestation - from companies which manufactured the equipment, to those which provided the many services, to hoops which people would have to jump through to be allowed to 'start a baby'. It seems that lawyers will always there - in developed economies, 'the law' seems to be all but inevitable as the mediation device for regulation.

Aside from that, well, the historical trends seem to be in the direction of giving individuals greater freedom of choice over how they choose to live their lives (as long as that doesn't involve deliberate, or too much, harm to others). So, by the time extra-biological gestation becomes 'mainstream', it'll be primarily a question of individual choice.
 
You raise some excellent points. By "advanced" I meant technologically advanced, not economically (or politically) developed. China and India are two countries that can accomplish just about any technological challenge, but their respective economies are, at best "developing".

Your thoughts about future society seem to be based on linear projections of the present, but I wonder how long our populist society will last, and whether it will serve as a model or a bad memory for the future world. In a world where small groups of individuals will be able to control kiloton energy releases, dicatorship and police state tactics might well evolve. Indeed. looking at the present administration in the US, they may be already evolving.

But I am certqainly not criticising your projections. Women's choice seems a desireable goal for this technology, whenever it comes. And I didn't want to get hung up on the technology. Some day the technology will be there.
 
SelfAdjoint: Your thoughts about future society seem to be based on linear projections of the present
Yes. I wrestled with this a bit. The problem is that when you speculate about the future a century or more out, you can be pretty sure there are enough unknown unknowns to render any speculation pretty useless. Nearer to now, projections of the present are more reasonable.

I also tried to build on a few invariants - economics, the physiological urge to reproduce, some form of social mediation and control (doesn't have to be institutionalised).

In a world where small groups of individuals will be able to control kiloton energy releases, dicatorship and police state tactics might well evolve.
I hadn't thought of that. It's an interesting topic - start a new thread?
 
I hadn't thought of that. It's an interesting topic - start a new thread?

Yes, I think I will. I'll put it on the Future board.
 

Similar threads

Bringing Back the Woolly Mammoth - A $10 Million Dollar Endeavor
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
2K
News Should Unborn Babies Be Protected Under Murder Laws?
  • · Replies 11 ·
Replies
11
Views
5K