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A comment on What percentage of people are alive today?. Parent comment

Re:What percentage of people are alive today? by Unseelie on Monday May 09, 2011 @09:41PM (#2530916)
Children can't be compared to goods. There's biological things at worth beyond self interest. That is to say, people want children, even though its not in their self interest.

I'd posit, if you were to try to assign children a status as a good in a wealthy culture, they'd be a luxury good. They cost a great deal, are effectively useless, but still desired.

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Re:What percentage of people are alive today? by koningrobot on Tuesday May 10, 2011 @05:07AM (#2531883)
<i>That is to say, people want children, even though its not in their self interest.</i> It certainly isn't in the children's interest either, because they can't be benefited by being brought into existence (they are not waiting in some pre-existence limbo wishing to become existent).
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Re:What percentage of people are alive today? by cousin_it on Tuesday May 10, 2011 @06:58AM (#2532035)
It's in the "interest" of our genes, like many other things we do.
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