An Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living
(Descartes)
This time the DNA testing came out positive.
The parents, who had clamored enthusiastically
For it previously, were now aghast,
Shouted recriminations at the consultants,
Cried out for more experts, said,
Who will watch the watchers? And so on.
But the doctors gathered,
And now came politicians, scientists,
Even philosophers,
All those that society has approved to make decisions
For he, now so cute a bundle,
Would be a criminal.
All the evidence pointed to it.
He would commit crimes so horrendous
The entire State would be at hazard.
So, after due deliberation,
And with mathematical accuracy
Fully confirmed by our computers,
We must make an appropriate decision:
Termination, or erasure,
Or repositioning of molecules?
Give us the knowledge, and we must take
The responsibility.
These are the choices.