Another line of thought goes like this. During their evolution, humans were subject to natural selection like any other form of life. On average, healthy and intelligent people had a better chance of reproducing. In modern civilisation, however, it often seems that this process does not apply. Alfred Russel Wallace and Charles Darwin had discussed this very point, with concern. In countries where statistics were collected, those statistics showed that in many cases the poor had more children than the rich. Also, statistics showed that the total population of some great nations was declining. One startling piece of information was produced by research directed by Karl Pearson, the Galton Professor of Eugenics at University College London, and the founder of the Department of Applied Statistics. The finding was that half of each succeeding generation was produced by no more than a quarter of the previous generation, and that quarter was "disproportionately located amongst the dregs of society".
The evolutionary biologist Julian Huxley was also a supporter of eugenics. He used this argument several times:
The American historian of science Garland Allen commented :
"The agricultural analogy appears over and over again as it did in the writings of many American eugenicists".
Similarly, the American geneticist Charles Davenport was a lifelong promoter of eugenics, and wrote one of its first textbooks. There is no doubt of the support given to eugenics by professional scientists of undoubted repute.
In the United States, eugenics became a very popular idea in the early 20th century. People thought it would cure society of all of its problems at the time, like crime and poverty, because they thought that all aspects of human behavior were probably hereditary. Very important scientists and politicians supported eugenics, and most thought it was a very progressive and scientific philosophy.
But some of those who led the eugenics movement used it to justify racism and prejudice. They used eugenics as an excuse to pass laws which to restrict immigration from countries that they did not like, saying that the people in them were genetically "unfit". They also passed laws which said that people of different races could not get married to one another. Most importantly, they passed laws which said that people who were thought to have mental illness or mental disability could be sterilised against their will. Under these laws over 60,000 people were sterilised in the United States between 1907 and the 1970s.
Today we know that interpreting statistics of this type is a complex business, and that many of the studies published early in the 20th century have serious flaws. Nevertheless, what stopped the eugenics movement was not better science. It was the realization, after World War II, of the effects of Nazi policies on race in Germany and other countries occupied during the war. Such war crimes were not, of course, advocated by any eugenicist. All the same, there was a common theme. This theme was the growing interest in the rights of individuals as against the rights of the state.
With the end of the Second World War, forced sterilisation ended in Germany. It was continued in the United States until 1974. The main targets were at first those that were ill or that had some physical or mental disabilities.
Only in 1985 was a law of the Swiss canton of Vaud abolished. This law allowed for the forced sterilisation of a certain group of people. It was replaced by a law on the national level, that tells under which circumstances people who are unable to consent, may be sterilised.
Though there are few people who openly advocate eugenics today, many people wonder what improvements in genetic technologies will mean in the future.
Genetic counselling exists, where parents can get information about their heredity and even prevent the birth of a child if it has a risk of hereditary illness. Some people do not think the issue is so clear, though, and wonder if genetic screening, genetic counselling, and birth control, are all just another type of eugenics. Some people wonder if it is bad because it infringes human dignity. Some people oppose eugenics and genetic counselling for religious reasons. The idea of eugenics is controversial today for these reasons.
Much of this concern is misplaced. Genetic counselling is not going to change the genetic composition of the human population to any noticeable extent. More relevant is the developing power to identify, and then to change directly, elements of the human genome (genetic engineering). This does have the potential to change the genetic structure of human populations.
Sterilisation
Sterilisation (which some people spell Sterilization) is a process that makes animals or humans that are able to bear offspring unable to do so.
Sterilisation often is done for a way of birth control or childfree. But it have been often done against the will of the person, this is called "compulsory sterilisation."
Cerberus
In Greek mythology, Cerberus (Greek: Κέρβερος, "Kérberos"; Latin: "Cerberus") is the monstrous, multi-headed dog that guards the entrance to the Underworld, preventing the souls of the dead from leaving.
Often called the "hound of Hades", Cerberus was one of the numerous offspring of the monsters Typhon and Echidna; he is usually depicted as having three heads, along with a serpent for a tail. Cerberus is primarily known for being captured by Herakles, as the last of the hero's Twelve Labors.
Yerevan
Yerevan () is the capital and largest city of Armenia. In 2004 about 1,088,300 people lived in Yerevan. Some people write Yerevan as Erevan. In past, Yerevan was called Erebuni or Erivan.
It is on the Hrazdan River, and is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country.
The history of Yerevan dates back to the 8th century BC, with the founding of the Urartian fortress of Erebuni in 782 BC. Eventually, the letter "b" in the name "Erebuni" changed in the 5th or 4th century BC, becoming "v".
The climate of Yerevan is continental, with dry, hot summers and cold, snowy and short winters. The temperature in August can reach 40°C (104°F), while January may be as cold as -15 °C (5 °F). The amount of precipitation is small, about 350 mm (14 in) per year.
As a centre of Armenian culture, Yerevan is the site of Yerevan State University (1919), the Armenian Academy of Sciences, a historical museum, an opera house, a music conservatory and several technical institutes. The Matenadaran archives hold a rich collection of valuable ancient Armenian, Greek, Assyrian, Hebrew, Roman and Persian manuscripts. Yerevan has several large public libraries, a number of museums and theaters, botanical gardens and zoos. It is also at the heart of an extensive rail network and is a major trading centre for agricultural products. In addition, industries in the city produce metals, machine tools, electrical equipment, chemicals, textiles and food products.
Two major tourist attractions are the Opera House, the ruins of an Urartu fortress and a Roman fortress. The Armenia Marriott Hotel is in the heart of the city at Republic Square (also known as Hraparak).
The Yerevan Metro is a rapid transit system that serves the capital city.
Its interior resembles that of western former Soviet nations with chandeliers hanging
from the corridors. The metro stations had most of their names changed after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Independence of the Republic of Armenia.
Yerevan is Armenia's industrial, transportation, and cultural center. Manufactures include chemicals, primary metals, machinery, rubber products, plastics, textiles, and processed food. Not only is Yerevan the headquarters of major Armenian companies, but of international ones as well, as it's seen as an attractive outsourcing location for Western European, Russian and American multinationals.