The Middle Child Is Going Extinct

Re:The Middle Child Is Going Extinct by HumanDrivenDev on Sunday July 15, 2018 @05:26PM (#17537171)

So much this. Altruistic, considerate people who hem and haw over how their decisions effect others grossly over estimate other human beings. Take a walk along the side of a high speed road and look at all the garbage thrown there. People don't give a shit.

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Re:The Middle Child Is Going Extinct by dionidium on Sunday July 15, 2018 @10:49PM (#17538421)

This entirely misses the point, which is that most people -- yes, even altruistic, considerate ones -- don't think of their decision to have kids as politics.

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Re:The Middle Child Is Going Extinct by greglindahl on Sunday July 15, 2018 @07:05PM (#17537596)

Wait, so I should not worry about my personal ethics, but should only consider how shitty everyone else is? I don't think ethics works that way.

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Re:The Middle Child Is Going Extinct by HumanDrivenDev on Sunday July 15, 2018 @08:51PM (#17537987)

I never advised anyone to do anything. I just described some things I've noticed.

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Re:The Middle Child Is Going Extinct by greglindahl on Sunday July 15, 2018 @09:03PM (#17538034)

Ah. I'm having a hard time understanding what you mean, then, thanks for attempting to clarify, but I'm still completely confused.

Altruistic people are generally altruistic because they want to be altruistic for their own personal pleasure, not because they expect anyone else to be like them. So how does "grossly over estimate other human beings" come into play? If anything, most altruistic people underestimate other human beings, due to exactly the thing you mention... which are things that everyone has already noticed.

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Re:The Middle Child Is Going Extinct by HumanDrivenDev on Monday July 16, 2018 @05:44PM (#17545425)

My altruism was eroded by life experience. I can't quite bring myself to actively screw others over, but I'm definitely not the 'good person' I once was.

Maybe true altruists are more resilient - but they're also much more susceptible to abuse.

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Re:The Middle Child Is Going Extinct by Fnoord on Monday July 16, 2018 @03:33AM (#17539421)

When I was in California some good 12 years ago littering was $1000 fine as the signs said. And yes, I saw cops on the road. And no, I saw no garbage on the sides.

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