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Aubrey Golding
Professor Altman
English 115
1 December 2016

Breeding Is Better

It is good breeding alone that can prepossess people in your favor at first sight, more time
being necessary to discover greater talents -Lord Chesterfield (Chesterfield 420). Lord
Chesterfield, a British Statesman, mentioned this quote in his novel, Letters to His Son: on the
Fine Art of Becoming a man of the World and a Gentleman. Dedicated to his son, Chesterfield
reminds him that his nobility and high education have put him in higher regard. It is that
privilege which allows him better opportunities at success, and a life in which purpose is greater
fulfilled. His sons life would help the lead the world in progression. This idea that by breeding
alone, people can expand discovery and further progression, as well as their own talents, is the
worlds greatest opportunity.
While breeding the world into the future may seem far-fetched, Au contraire! For
centuries dogs have been purely bred into meeting specific purposes. For the past 15,000 years or
so dogs have been considered domesticated animals, but it was not until the past few centuries
that dogs were categorized into specific breeds. By controlled genetic manipulation (breeding by
choice of humans), dogs could fulfill explicit purposes. With all fairness, without the altruistic
act of humans breeding dogs, in what way would dogs find aspiration? In general, dogs were

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bred to meet the needs for hunting, shepherding, guarding, work, and company (Melina 2).One
of the first distinct breeds was the Greyhound. Its place of origin is ambiguous, however it is
agreed upon by most ancient cultures that it was designed to hunt and serve as a companion to its
master. Today there are 340 breeds recognized by the Fdration Cynologique Internationale
(FCI), the world-governing body of dog breeds, sometimes known as the World Canine
Organization (Melina 2). Each breeds specific characteristics were not created by accident,
coincidence, or natural selection, but by directly controlled breeding. All around the globe,
purebred dogs have a history of being held to a higher standard and treated with dignity. To this
day, purebreds are given the opportunity to swagger around the arena at dog shows amongst
other given opportunities. As Lord Chesterfield advised his son, with breeding alone, the same is
possible for man. Dogs have led an awe-inspiring example as to the possibilities that lies in store
for humanity.
From the moment man could reason, humanity has tried to assign some meaning to life.
Even today, people struggle to find purpose in their lives. But, by assigning people purpose
before conception, the struggle is eliminated. When a dog is bred, it is done with purpose, with a
specific future task in mind. Most prevalently this is for companionship, dogs are considered a
luxury. However, dogs can fulfill many of the same onerous roles humans do. By training at the
start of puppyhood, dogs become experts in their given fields.
Picture a service dog for example. Most people probably imagine a golden retriever
wearing a red vest, walking a blind person across the street. This is but one example of a service
dog. These canines can be trained in assisting the blind, deaf, epileptic, immobile, and other
handicapped patrons. Bred for a specific reason, there is a select group of breeds that are chosen

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to undergo this training from birth. For service/assistant and therapy work, training organizations
will hand pick dogs from the retriever or shepherd family. They are described as medium energy
dogs; therefore, they do not need constant stimulation, but are ready on command for activity.
This makes them the perfect students. They have the ability to be enthusiastic and more
importantly, obedient. When the organization that prepares them sees fit, they enter the
workforce. The typical span of time for training is two years. A retriever has a given lifespan of
approximately 12 years. Two years of training means that only 16.66% of their life is spent in
education. People in the U.S generally start their education in pre-school and further their
education with a college degree. A total of 20 years is spent on education. That is 28.16% of a
persons life (given the life expectancy of 71 years.) That percentage is double how long a dog
spends preparing for the workforce! Even after education, many people feel unfulfilled.
This concept of early training for dogs or for humans is not new. Travel back to England in
the 1500s and enter a bullfighting arena. We would see two figures ready to battle the bull. One
being the traditional matador, the other being the English Bulldog. If a young boy was born into
a bullfighting family, chances are he would follow in the footsteps of his father and become a
matador. However, they were still not nearly as successful as their dogs. Bulldogs were bred and
taught how to bull-bait. Historian, Tom Richey describes that the bulldogs would be let loose,
and the objective [was] to take down a bull. (Richey) Bulldogs were developed with short legs
and heavy bodies that served them in keeping out of the bulls horns (Williams 4). Often before
a fight, pepper was sprayed in the bulls nose. Many thought this was to anger it, but truthfully
this was so the bulldogs knew where to bite. Bulldogs are known for their underbite, an
extension of the lower jaw that makes their teeth visible from the external part of the mouth. This

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arrangement of teeth made it possible for the breed to clamp onto the bulls nose. Bulls would try
to fling a bulldog away but the dogs tight grip would only tear at the nose. Bulls eventually
collapsed from blood loss and oxygen deprivation. Every part of the bulldog, inside and out was
sagaciously designed to help further its talents to greater fulfill its role.
Matadors were only successful in the ring if they owned a bulldog or a deadly weapon.
Many men, born and raised in the ring, still lacked the skills to survive. Humans were just
biologically unequipped to take down such beasts. This kept them from reaching their full
potential in their professions. If matadors had been bred, with greater strength and other body
modifications, they would have been more victorious.
It may still seem improbable that humans could truly be bred and trained for one purpose.
Yet, looking at the history of the Olympics, it has already been done, and successfully at that!
Perhaps the most famous Olympic runner today is Usain Bolt. The champion of 9 medals in 3
different competitions, comes from West African descent. Consistent with runners of that
background, there is a certain gene which gives runners the muscles necessary to accelerate and
reach top sprint speed quickly (Steadman 2). Clearly all humans already carry prepossessing
genes that allow them special capabilities. While Bolt himself may not have been bred, China is
using genes people already carry to breed their own athletes.
In China, Ye Shiwen at age 16 has already won two Olympic Gold Medals
(in the 400 and 200 metres individual medley). She has officially beat the world records for both.
It has been argued that no 16 year old girl should have these abilities. She has been tested for
drugs and her training has been observed. She has not been under the influence of any steroids
and her practices are not anything out of the ordinary. Science and technology writer, Ian

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Steadman, claims that the surest way to make sure a baby is born with the right genes,
according to research, is to make sure athletes marry athletes--just like breeding animals for
specific traits. (Steadman 3) Chinese athletes are being encouraged to marry and have children
by the Chinese government. This is no conspiracy. Take pro-basketball star, Yao Ming, player
for the CBA and the NBA. Both of his parents played basketball and were exceptional,
biologically. Yao Ming himself grew to be 72. The average height for a man in China is 56.
Mings father was 62. His mother, Fengdi, was known as perhaps the tallest woman in the
country. The couple was no accident either. Fengdi was apparently enthusiastic about the
governments marvelous plan to produce a sports super star with Mings father. But, just to be
sure, the Shanghai authorities who encouraged the match had gone back several generations to
ensure that the size was embedded in the bloodline (Khan 1). After this accomplishment, China
started Operation Yao Ming. Children from his same village began to be assessed as early as
possible (Steadman 3). Those who met the right height, weight, family background, etc., were
placed into sporting programs. Since then the end result is Chinas rise up the Olympic medals
table, and reports of villages in northern China each with dozens of men at the height of Yao
Ming (Steadman 3).
China is not just racing up down the courts or across the Olympic pool. China is working
towards breeding more intelligent humans. Science laboratory, BGI (Beijing Genomics Institute)
Shenzhen, is attempting to find the alleles which determine human intelligence (Eror 2). The
goal of their projects is to allow parents to pick the brightest zygote in an embryo screening to
bump up every generations intelligence by five to fifteen IQ points (Eror 2). Science savant
and head of the organization, Ye Yin, says that this will help people in understanding

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themselves and to create a better world (CBS This Morning). If China is successful in finding a
way to breed intelligence, breeding people for sole purposes will become like training a retriever.
Picked from the best group, easy to train, yields to greater triumph. A human equipped for
intense training will always prevail over an unintelligent being everyday of the week. As
Chesterfield said, breeding can preprocess people in your favor at first sight, more time being
necessary to discover greater talent (Chesterfield 420). Rather than wasting time selecting the
most intelligent people needed for a job, humanity can breed them, leaving more time for
individuals to generate more of their own achievement.
Some backwards-thinking people may see breeding humans as immoral. Common
arguments suggest that it is unnatural and unethical. Procreation and evolution is practically
the definition of natural! Breeding with purpose and intelligence is merely speeding that process
up, progressing the world by eons. As far as unethical, no one thought twice when breeding dogs.
If humanity had not domesticated and bred dogs they would still be wolves, running wild and
hunting for their own food, and competing for their way in the world. Now we have occupational
dogs. Dogs are seen as a luxury. All around the world they are practically worshipped for their
breed specifications and talents. Other reactionary theoreticians will try to claim that breeding for
a purpose takes away peoples humanity; part of life is finding purpose. But if each individual
gave in their selfish needs for respective purpose, and saw that through breeding purpose could
be given to all, this concept would be more widely accepted. It is popular belief that part of what
makes someone human is their imperfections. But what about their strive for perfection, for
achievement? Is that notion not as important as the rest of the human dynamic? It would be
unethical to make those dreams impossible. As mentioned earlier, since man could reason, there

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has been a search for the purpose of life. There is an opportunity, that will soon be attainable, to
give each individual a purpose to fulfill their lives! No longer will people have to worry about
the mistakes free-will dispenses. These radical concepts may be troubling, but at the end of the
day, dogs still wag their tail.

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Works Cited
CBS This Morning. Scientists in China seek genetics roots of human intelligence.
Youtube. Uploaded by CBS This Morning, 5 March, 2015,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCgY9qwzedI
Chesterfield, Philip Dormer Stanhope, and Oliver Herbrand Gordon. Leigh. Letters to His
Son: On the Fine Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman. Washington: M.W.
Dunne, 1901. Print.
Eror, Aleks. "China Is Engineering Genius Babies | VICE | United States." VICE. N.p.,
2013. Web. 07 Dec. 2016.
Khan, Razib. "Was Yao Ming Bred?" Discovermagazine.com. N.p., 31 July 2010. Web.
07 Dec. 2016.
Melina, Remy. "The Incredible Explosion of Dog Breeds." LiveScience.
TechMediaNetwork, 05 Aug. 2010. Web. 30 Nov. 2016.
Richey, Tom. Bull Baiting (History of Bulldogs). Online video clip. Youtube, 02
March 2013. Web. 01 December 2016.
Steadman, Ian. Breeding the Perfect Athlete Is Not Merely Possible, It Is Inevitable.
WIRED UK. N.p., 2016. Web. 07 Dec. 2016.
Williams, Carol, and Henry Williams. A New Owner's Guide to Bulldogs. Neptune City:
T.F.H. Publications, 2004. Print.