What exactly will happen when Andromeda cannibalizes the Milky Way? Could Earth survive?

See "The Right Not To Hear: The Ethics of Parental Refusal of Hearing Rehabilitation", people opposed to treatment of deafness, arguing for deaf culture. See antivaxers, and the reimergence of eliminated diseases.

Inevitably, what happens is Gattaca / In Time / Limitless, where eugenics becomes a class issue, and the offspring of the wealthy elite aren't just provided the best educations, or industrial and political connections, but they are going to genetically or pharmaceutically modified to be faster / stronger / smarter / disease resistant. People are already cloning their cats and dogs, and instilling their beliefs and ideologies in their children, just wait until you have the ability to literally raise clones of yourself.

/r/askscience Thread Parent