Do people with Down Syndrome have a right to life?

A post I published in this blog in 2017 ended with this paragraph:

Why are human beings conceived with trisomy of chromosome 21 (Down syndrome) denied the right to life, to the point that, in many Western countries, in practice they are not allowed to be born?

In another post, published in 2015, during the first year of this blog's existence, I calculated the probability that the triple and quadruple screening tests, then in use to detect trisomy of chromosome 21 (the cause of Down syndrome), would produce false positives. The conclusion was this:

Science fiction and the multiverse

In several previous posts (see one here), I have argued that multiverse theories are not science, as they cannot be proven false, but rather science fiction, purely imaginative creations. Further proof of this is that the idea of the multiverse did not originally arise from science, but from science fiction. Some of my reading this summer has helped me complete the proofs for this assertion.

The most common form of the multiverse, the M-theory multiverse, appeared for the first time in science fiction literature in a short story by Clifford Simak, published in 1939, which the author later developed into a novel, Cosmic Engineers, published in 1950. In this novel, the protagonists must confront the invasion of our universe by malevolent intelligent beings from another universe, who want to destroy us. To defend themselves, Earthlings establish an alliance with a civilization made up of artificial intelligences created by long-gone extraterrestrial beings, who warn them of the threat from the other universe.

Humanoid robots at home?

Technological companies are investing huge amounts of money to develop humanoid robots for use in the home. One such company, Figure AI, claims that the introduction of humanoid robots into the home will revolutionize elder care and the performance of routine household tasks. Goldman Sachs predicts that the humanoid robot market could be worth $38 billion by 2035.

In an article published in IEEE Spectrum, Maya Cakmak of the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington describes a study conducted with students on the acceptance of the introduction of humanoid robots in the home. Their survey concluded that people generally prefer special purpose robots over humanoids. They see special-purpose robots as safer, more private, and ultimately more comfortable to have in their homes… a Roomba for cleaning, a medication dispenser for pills, a stairlift for stairs… Humanoids were described as bulky and unnecessary, while specialized robots were seen as less intrusive and more discreet.