Cloning College - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages The parents of the infant want to clone him, giving the reason that he should have a chance of life. Although they are a healthy, fertile couple with the ability to produce another child, they do not want another child. They want that child.
The idea of cloning a human being for the purposes of replacing what was lost is ludicrous in my opinion. First of all, as Talbot's article states, the clone would not have the same memories or necessarily the same personality as the original.
A good case in point to demonstrate a difference in personality between an original human and a clone would be identical twins; they are genetically alike, yet they have different preferences, different personalities and sometimes are so different that they may as well have come from different families.
It is easy to become so familiar with a person, a pet or a friend that to associate anyone or anything that looks like them is associated with the original, with expectations of sameness. This is a very basic human reaction and the desire for continuity. Religious or spiritual beliefs aside, everyone and everything is unique, even if similar.
I believe that the exc...
Yet simple analysis shows that the reality of the idea is inharmonious with the expectations of the people who want a clone.
In exploring a fringe science group called the Ralians, Talbot explores the rationale behind cloning "replacement children." The Ralians believe that humans are genetically altered clones of extraterrestrials, and they have a membership of over 55,000 people worldwide. They also have enormous resources and a team of brilliant scientists, which lends them some amount of credibility. The statement of this group is, if someone wants a clone, why shouldn't they have one
Although the raw logic of the Ralians is not really flawed, the thinking of the many hopeful customers is. Talbot points out that a cloned child would be raised by its parents with unprecedented expectations, whether conscious or not, and the child would have no memories of previous experience with the family. Talbot wonders if people really realize the brevity of that. Still, grieving does alter one's sense of reason, and cloning seems to be offering hope to many who have lost children in unfortunate and sudden circumstances such as accidents.
The research done by Talbot lead her to a 77 year old woman who wishes to clone her son Matthew, who at age 37 died after falling out of a tree. The woman acknowledged that someone else would raise Matthew because of her age (she calls the hypothetical clone Matthew), an idea she doesn't really like. So what, Talbot asks, will she be getting if she could have Matthew successfully cloned The answer is, "his mind." He had an I.Q. of 165 and the world needs a mind like that. Again, here is a flawed pattern of thinking: even if the original could be cloned, there is no guarantee that the clone ...Download file to see next pagesRead More