
Should We Clone Neanderthals? - alexandros
http://www.archaeology.org/1003/etc/neanderthals.html
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mahmud
No. Without their culture, community, and absolute freedom to roam the planet
and carve a corner for themselves, they would be another zoo/museum curiosity,
a biological anomaly paraded before us for pennies.

Even if a sizable population of them were granted full human rights and a
habitat, they would forever owe us their existence, and their debt to humans
would hang over anything they achieve for themselves in terms of growth and
survival. Our future generations will also treat them as an experiment gone
awry, should they ever threaten the slightest human interest.

It's hard enough watching dying racial and linguistic minority groups; their
last remaining few members made into coursework for "our" undergraduates.

Bringing back a Neanderthal is to kill him twice, after granting him a brief
purposeless life for our own edutainment. Let them rest in peace.

~~~
extension
If you cloned a Neanderthal, you would get a relatively normal looking person
with average human intelligence who would adopt whatever language and culture
they grew up in. Their differences due to being a Neanderthal would be more
subtle than the variation among individual human beings. They would likely
lead a normal life, provided they could escape the inevitable media frenzy and
racism.

The question "should we clone a Neanderthal?" is the same as the question
"should we use unreliable technology to radically alter the development of a
human being just for research purposes?" in which case the answer is
undeniably "No".

~~~
arethuza
In his BBC series "British Isles: A Natural History" Alan Titchmarsh was made
up to look like a Neanderthal, put on normal clothes and then went for a walk
down a busy street - hardly anyone noticed. You can see a picture of him on
this page:

<http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A21606040>

An excellent series:
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/britishisles/prog...](http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/britishisles/prog_summary.shtml)

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bd
If we got extinct, I'm pretty sure we would like to get cloned.

~~~
mahmud
Should we get extinct, I don't want to be the first or the millionth to be
cloned to life. I want to come to this world 200k years after the experiment,
born naturally into a world where my specie is not the lab-rat of another more
intelligent. In a world full of our own inventions, cultures, and languages. I
also want a family tree with people whose life stories fill my youthful
evenings with pride and curiosity.

After that, I wouldn't mind if there was a pony, and/or an Atari 2600.

~~~
swombat
_I want to come to this world 200k years after the experiment, born naturally
into a world where my specie is not the lab-rat of another more intelligent.
In a world full of our own inventions, cultures, and languages. I also want a
family tree with people whose life stories fill my youthful evenings with
pride and curiosity._

Sometimes you have to make personal sacrifices (like being the first to be
brought back to life) so that millions or billions after you get a chance.

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baguasquirrel
Wasn't there an article here recently that suggested that Neanderthals weren't
the cute cuddly people we'd thought them to be?

<http://www.themandus.org/>

~~~
jarin
Yeah don't you know that neanderthals just one day were like "you know what
you guys are better go ahead!"

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stretchwithme
I predict they would die quickly. Viruses and bacteria attacks have evolved
and neanderthal defenses haven't.

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pavs
If we can clone them surely we can keep them alive?

~~~
mahmud
They were a warrior race that fed on beasts the likes of which we have never
seen. Too noble to be kept in glass boxes and fed through IVs.

We won the race, now let's not desecrate their remains.

~~~
endtime
What exactly is noble about them? They were probably savage and barbaric; the
complete opposite of noble.

~~~
chbarts
The 'Noble Savage' myth is the last vestige of racism still taken seriously by
educated Westerners. It seems harmless enough, because the stereotype is
positive, but it's still an assumption about moral character based on race.

~~~
benpbenp
The problem with the Noble Savage myth is that it is a ridiculous
romanticization, much akin to the myth of the "simple, merry country folk."
The idea in itself doesn't have anything to do with the race of the savages in
question.

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bradfordw
No. I can only tolerate so many Geico commercials...

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jarin
Sure, although first we have to decide who will be the Eloi and who will be
the Morlocks.

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steve19
I hope it will not ever be done. If we ever get to the point where it can be
done it probably will.

On the other hand I am all for resurrecting woolly mammoths and other extinct
animals. They would not be aware that they are giant and unintelligent
historical relics at the mercy of their superior human masters.

~~~
aaronblohowiak
and they may be delicious

~~~
jarin
I would eat a wooly mammoth steak, or liver cake, well maybe I should take
another peek...

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fjarlq
Yes.

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bhousel
We probably shouldn't, but we probably will..

