# Can humans take a lesson from canines?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-humans-take-a-lesson-from-canines/964454>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [May 15, 2022, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-humans-take-a-lesson-from-canines/964454 "2022-05-15T16:51:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-humans-take-a-lesson-from-canines/964454/21 "2022-05-17T02:12:16Z")

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> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#):
>
> H.G. Wells wrote about the underling workman Morlocks and the elite decadent Eloi, but realistically even if such a situation could develop the Morlocks would eventually realize that they don’t actually need the Eloi for anything and would just take over their civilization, husband them for meat, and live the good life.

Nitpick: Of course, even in Wells’ story [that is indeed what the Morlocks were actually doing.](https://gutenberg.org/files/35/35-h/35-h.htm)

> [@](#):
>
> “Clearly, at some time in the Long-Ago of human decay the Morlocks’ food had run short. […] These Eloi were mere fatted cattle, which the ant-like Morlocks preserved and preyed upon—probably saw to the breeding of.”

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**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2022, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-humans-take-a-lesson-from-canines/964454/22 "2022-05-17T02:55:46Z")

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> [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](#):
>
> I can easily see such ‘preventative’ genetic modifications being the first ones widely adopted, and then possibly spreading to more ‘cosmetic’ traits.

Yeah, that was one aspect that I had in mind–it can gain acceptability by first treating the most obvious debilitating conditions.

We’re already seeing this, really. Are there any serious objections to prenatal genetic screening for, say, Down syndrome? There’s a bit of hand-wringing here and there, but mostly of the “what if” sort and there isn’t some kind of society-wide uproar. It’s easier when it comes in increments.

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