I have always seen having children as an issue of cooperation. Not having children is obviously less work than having them. But if my parents would have been thinking this way, I wouldn’t be here.
Whatever trait you have that is making you consider not having children, by not having children you make this trait less frequent in the next generation. Think about the long-term impact.
It’s like a Newcomb’s dilemma, where you if you choose the box containing some additional difficulties in life, the Omega will also give you a box containing existence of more people like you.
For me the important question before having a baby was whether my partner is equally dedicated to provide a good background for the baby. Because one parent is not enough. Now my experience is that it is difficult, but less difficult than I expected.
Whatever trait you have that is making you consider not having children, by not having children you make this trait less frequent in the next generation.
Only if that behavior is genetic in origin. In many cases, voluntary childlessness is a learned idea that doesn’t need children to get passed on.
Learned ideas depend on the genetic ability to be receptive to that learned idea. So if you don’t have children because of the learned idea that it is better not to have children, future generations will be less receptive to the idea that it is better not to have children.
I have always seen having children as an issue of cooperation. Not having children is obviously less work than having them. But if my parents would have been thinking this way, I wouldn’t be here.
Whatever trait you have that is making you consider not having children, by not having children you make this trait less frequent in the next generation. Think about the long-term impact.
It’s like a Newcomb’s dilemma, where you if you choose the box containing some additional difficulties in life, the Omega will also give you a box containing existence of more people like you.
For me the important question before having a baby was whether my partner is equally dedicated to provide a good background for the baby. Because one parent is not enough. Now my experience is that it is difficult, but less difficult than I expected.
Only if that behavior is genetic in origin. In many cases, voluntary childlessness is a learned idea that doesn’t need children to get passed on.
Learned ideas depend on the genetic ability to be receptive to that learned idea. So if you don’t have children because of the learned idea that it is better not to have children, future generations will be less receptive to the idea that it is better not to have children.
I have 5 siblings. My mother had 7 and my father had 9. There’s nothing genetic in my childlessness.