Originally posted on the EA subreddit.

First, I will present a rough sketch for why genetic enhancement could be a plausible cause X. Then I will list some specific proposals for genetic interventions. I will conclude by responding to objections. If there is interest, I may write more posts on this topic.

Basic argument

There are two main ways to think about genetic enhancement as a potential EA cause area. One perspective is focused on improving short-term human welfare. While reducing “defects” (disabilities, depression, etc.) would be a major focus, this perspective could additionally encompass increasing the frequency of beneficial traits, such as longevity-promoting alleles of the FOXO3 gene. The key idea is that enhancement is performed to increase individual well-being.

The other way of thinking about genetic enhancement, and the one I prefer, takes a long-term view. Changes are made with the far-future of our society in mind. For instance, by drastically increasing IQs, we could put our civilization in a better position to solve complex challenges that exist today or will arise down the line. Other interventions such as increasing empathy and decreasing Dark Triad personality traits could be used to influence the values of our descendents and avert future moral catastrophes.

The short-term case for genetic enhancement

If we want to improve short-term human well-being, we can group most possible interventions into two broad categories:

Improve the quality and duration of life for presently-existing humans.
Change which (and how many) humans will be born in the first place.

The first method is far less philosophically controversial. Everyone agrees that once you’re born, it’s better to live a happy life than a miserable one. On the other hand, when it comes to changing the number and identity of people in existence, we enter the muddy waters of population ethics, fraught with paradoxes and impossibility theorems. For the most basic version of my argument to work, it suffices to assume that when selecting among a fixed number of “potential children” who could be born, we should choose the ones with the highest expected well-being.

I have not yet said anything about genes specifically! Of course, both environment and genetics could be factors when evaluating the expected well-being of potential future humans. However, livi...

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