Digital Eugenics

Eugenics is defined as the study of how to arrange reproduction within a human population to increase the inheritable characteristics regarded as desirable. Perhaps the most recognizable example from history is the horrific and deplorable work in eugenics performed by Hitler’s Nazi’s. These efforts were put into effect in order to create a master or aryan race, believing that entire groups of people should be eliminated because of their undesirable characteristics. I was thinking about how life for our kids in today’s social-media-driven world leads them into deep self-assessment that typically leaves them feeling as if they are somehow less than because they don’t look like those they’ve been led to believe are most desirable. Could it be that the use of filters and photo-shopping tools to alter their photos could actually be a kind of digital eugenics? Our kids need to realize that they are filled with the utmost value and worth, created by a loving God as individuals with unique dignity.