Lessons of Presley's Hips
... sheep seemed to be the explosion point for cloning. Before Dolly animals were cloned from embryo cells. Now they are cloning from adult cells which is how Dolly was created. There seems to be more problems in animals cloned from adult cells (Human Genome). Just because we are capable of cloning, does it mean we should? Why would people want to clone themselves or have clones of other people? One big thing people talk about it is cloning superstars. They feel that it would be cool to have a child that they know has the genes of a superstar (Elshtain 182). Although cloning copies the same genes that doesn’t mean that the clone will have the same personality, likes or dislikes. This is where the problem would come in. How would the child feel having parents that were constantly pushing him or her to do things they didn’t want to do. I understand that parents now try to do that, but wouldn’t they push harder if they gave birth to someone like Michael Jordan? Wouldn’t they expect a little more from their cloned child? I don’t see how the psychological effects could be good for the child. Another idea brought up by Richard Dawkins in the book Clones and Clones is multiple clones (54). Why should people have just one of the clones? Why not multiple clones? To begin with I know that I would not like to have ten of me running around. It would take away from my uniqueness and individuality. Some people fear that someone will copy a bunch of Hitler’s, but who’s to say that the clones will won’t to do the same things that Hitler did? I guess some people would find that neat or cool, but I don’t see it that way. Elshtain says, “if there were basketball teams fielding Jordan’s against Jordan’s, we wouldn’t be able to recognize the one, the only, Michael Jordan (182).” What would the significance be in having an exceptional basketball star when there are hundreds of the same running around? One point brought up by scientists is that cloning is the same as having an identical twin. They say the only difference is that one happens accidentally and one deliberately (Caveat). That’s just it; mothers and fathers get joy when they are surprised with a set of twins. The joy would be taken out of that. Another reason parents might like to clone is to bring back a loved one. First of all I just think that is wrong. I think it is one of the worst reasons to clone someone because it would be like saying that there life was pointless or meaningless. Yes it is hard to lose a loved one, but it happens for a reason. People are supposed to mourn over a lost loved one. If you were to clone a deceased child it would be like their whole purpose would be thrown away. The meaning of life would soon disappear. Elshtain also says, “All feelings and emotions are entirely abstract. One never needs to grieve or mourn as everyone is infinitely replaceable.” This is what would happen if people cloned deceased children. No one would have to grieve because they have another look a like, but that’s all that they would be is a look a like. No one is replaceable. There are many factors that make a person who they are and there is no guarantee that person will be the same as the original. You also have to look at how that will affect the cloned child. The parent will be pushing the clone to do the same things the original had done. The child could feel that it was unloved or not good enough for his or her parents. Could you bring a child into this world already knowing that they wouldn’t be happy? Cloning changes parenthood. It wouldn’t be the joy of sharing yourself with someone to make a unique and special child. It would more or less be, let’s make the best child possible; it doesn’t matter if he shared the same traits as the mother or father. Could the cloned child feel like a freak (Dawkins 56)? He would share no resemblance to the mother or father. Nor, would he have any similarities with any siblings if he had any. Could cloning be good or bad? Some feel that cloning for personal satisfaction is wrong, but if it is done for medical reasons, to save a life then there is nothing wrong with cloning. It’s hard to say not something that maybe one day might find a cure for a disease, but you still have to look at the research leading up to that point. How many unborn embryo...