Too little weight is given to the fact that no consciousness exists because it has willed itself into existence. Put another way, nothing consents to being given life.
A feeling mind will come into being, suffer throughout life, likely watch you die, and eventually die itself because you wanted to feel fulfilled. I want a child, therefore I will bring one into this world. Often, it's said having a child is an act of selflessness. I see it the opposite way.
On the flip side, adopting a child is the most selfless thing you can do, in my opinion. Why do only 4% of American households w/ children have an adopted child*? The OP's blog post is surmising it's because we procreate to achieve some tangible sense of immortality, as we consider the passing of our genetic material to be the next best thing to actual in-the-flesh eternal life.
The anthropologist Earnest Becker wrote a book in the '70s called The Denial of Death which reaches much the same conclusion, only broader: that all of civilization is an effort to achieve symbolic if not literal immortality.
* https://adoptionnetwork.com/knowledge-hub/adoption-myths-fac...
I enjoy being alive and experiencing things. I think this is true for most people. Therefore having children is moral.
Personally, after often experiencing such existential dread and finding that it impacts my life in a pretty negative way, i've largely switched over to the nihilism school of thought. Then, it can be argued that bringing children into this world just to doom them to a similar fate would be pretty immoral.
It's clear that most people are happy to be alive. So even if you personally don't like being alive, having children is moral.
I can imagine a world where having children wouldn't be moral. It would be a world in which most people hated being alive. We don't appear to live in that world.
I want no such thing, merely offering my differing point of view here. It probably doesn't have relevance or any sort of impact in the lives of most people, but claiming that having children is universally moral could be challenged at the very least.
If nothing else, each child is another mouth to feed and will contribute to the carbon footprint of our species. While the planet could sustain more people on it, in our current climate of consumerism, i personally don't believe that the world needs to strive towards overpopulation and accelerated exhaustion of the resources that we have (amongst other things).
Just mentioned one example really...
> I'm curious if you're able to think of one non-selfish reason to have children?
I am curious if you are able to think on non-selfish anything?
> Often, it's said having a child is an act of selflessness
Nonsence. It is what it is. Anything you say that is not gonig to explain animal and other forms or life is invalid.
> Adopting a child is the most selfless thing you can do
Compensation, so no.
> The OP's blog post is surmising it's because we procreate to achieve some tangible sense of immortality
He said people usually say that, not that it is a sole reason. He also said there isn't any rational explanation. I just given one - I am designed to do so.
Rather, I made the point that I'd love to ask just one parent why they chose to have a child and have the answer not start w/ "Because I wanted..."
It is the part that comes after that matters. "Because I wanted someone else to experience the joy I experience every day" is a very different answer than "Because I needed someone to make me feel like I'm important."
Not because they don't have value, but because they don't 'work'.
The fact that you find having children fulfilling is about you, not about anybody else.
Yes it is. Without procreation species can't exist, so it must be designed to procreate. The process takes quite a lot of energy which is precious to all forms of life and there are all sorts of mechanisms in place to make you wanna do that. Design.
> The fact that you find having children fulfilling is about you, not about anybody else.
Everything is first about you. Its illusion that some things look like they aren't on frontend.
Your body is also designed to age and die, by the way. What is the reason to follow that design, anyway? Why not change it to serve your own interests better?
> I do want to have a health span (not life span)
So why exactly would you like to die?
No reason. I must. I am sure tech is here already to rise babies externally. That still doesn't change my design to want them because of feromones, reproductive system etc. When we are able to change that design (via viral patches for example) then we can talk about alternatives.
> So why exactly would you like to die?
I wouldn't like to die. I must die by design. There are many good reasons for it nowdays. When we have access to unlimited resources by becoming type 3 civilization, then we can talk about non dying.
Even then, its unknown what infinite life brings to table. What if it backfires someway like in altered carbon ? Would you like that kind of society ?
Like I said, health span. That is achievable nowdays. Lets be realistic or we can talk about pink elephants on the Mars too.
You're a conscious being that has free will. Technically, the only thing you "must" obey is physics. Our ability to override these animalistic instincts is one of the things that makes us distinct from animals.
Besides, making life-changing decisions with "no reason" is... I don't know... irresponsible with regard to yourself?
> That still doesn't change my design to want them because of feromones, reproductive system etc.
This doesn't make you want to have kids. This makes you want to have sex.
> Like I said, health span. That is achievable nowdays.
I don't think lifespan and healthspan are separable like you suggest. How do you even imagine that? A 30-year-old-looking person in perfect health just suddenly dying (of what?) at the chronological age of 90? That's not how this works. People die "of old age" because, well, they age, and their health declines as they age. If you don't age, your risk of death doesn't increase. That simple.
That's what I do. The branch is biochemistry. Existence o free will is debatable - people are easily controlled via various chemicals: when to eat, sleep, love, hate, believe or to be conscious. As many of those are endogenous, it turns out that humans are spectrum. What you call belief might be nothing more then your body producing higher level of DHT compared to somebody else.
If/when we override all of that, we will no longer be homosapiens.
> Our ability to override these animalistic instincts is one of the things that makes us distinct from animals.
It exists in Dune world and is called Gom Jabar, but every next day in this world it looks more and more to be just another typical anthropomorphic illusion.
> Besides, making life-changing decisions with "no reason" is... I don't know... irresponsible with regard to yourself?
Living in virtual worlds might be irresponsible too with regard to yourself and others.
And besides, I clearly stated reason does exist, part of it biochemical, part of it because I admire certain parent-only-human-attributes.
> This doesn't make you want to have kids. This makes you want to have sex.
Semantncs. Sex is prereq for kids at this moment. I guess you didn't hear for oxy also ?
> I don't think lifespan and healthspan are separable like you suggest.
Of course they are. You can live 90 years like a champ and drop dead next day. Or you can treat your body like garbage can and live 70 years but half of it wished you were never born. Would you switch places with Hawking ?
I am sure Kurzweil would not agree with you. :-)
> Technically, the only thing you "must" obey is physics
Technically, if we are being pedantic, this is also questionable and thing of faith. Simulation theory ?
Having a child is type of experience and commitment that has no parallel in any domain of life. It shapes you in certain ways if you are devoted to it. I want to be that type of person because I recognize some qualities that I admire (like being way less self-centric).
My body is designed so that it can do this. Hence, not having children is against the design. Its like using oven as newspaper holder - nothing wrong with that, but using oven by design is something else which you can't really describe to non-oven people who never tasted cooked dishes. However, it takes time and there are number of responsibilities involved and there are huge number of people who think its just waste of time when they can simply go burger king or avoid eating at all until they must.
That is not nothing.
Yes, it can go bad, like anything else in life. You can die in fire using oven too.
I think this is rational explanation.
So called "Socratic procreation" (in short, where your procreate via recognized work/ideas instead of sexual act) on the other hand, is IMO meaningless (and maybe even compensation) for the very reasons mentioned in the blog post.
That said, I do want to have a health span (not life span) as long as possible and that has nothing to do with all of this. I can freeze my head in a jar but that doesn't really count as health (while it could be counted as life).