Some insightful thought there right!!!

I think the real fundamental point that both you and the author make is that it's the things that are investments of time that are worthwhile, and that we should endeavor - in our mindfulness - to adjudicate the utility of time investments actively in order to maximize our ROI. I 100% agree! Going through the motions, getting dumped on, or losing one's ability to subjectively assess comparative value is no way to lead a happy life (for oneself of the ones around you).

One bit I find easy to lose sight of is that if I do spend my day cultivating wheat for flour for a cake, to make sure to eventually make and eat that cake, and not just spend all my time getting better at cultivating more and more wheat.

I dunno, I've discovered a deep joy in cultivating, to the point where it has developed into my "cake" to simply cultivate. I don't mind if someone else ultimately reaps the benefits, since from my own vantage I won't regret having spent an extra day in the field, doing the work.

To me, this is the goal; to be able to look up towards the sun every day, sore muscles and sweat dripping, and say, "thank you for this day."

Metaphorically, I mean. In truth I'm a cave-dwelling grug-minded developer.

Chapeau!!!! :)

Thank you for leading me to https://grugbrain.dev/

Yes! It's like the problem of when to stand up from the blackjack table.

Your children are your cake.

My children’s cake is my cake

That doesn't seem like a sustainable source of protein.

Sometimes! Increasingly so as they get older. But a lot of the time, personally I would say most of the time until they're four years old or so, it's more like plowing, sowing, harvesting, and milling than it is like enjoying a slice of cake.

That approach means your life ends with your first child; since you'll presumably want your children to believe that line too, then their lives will all lead to and end with their children. All in all, this is just saying, the only meaning of life is to procreate - and reduces humanity back down to level of any other simpler life form. Eat, fuck, die, repeat.

It's a belief I find hugely depressing.

People get a lot of gratification in raising children. Something that people without children can't really understand fully. I know I didn't understand it until I had children. You're building (for lack of a better word) something that will outlast you, the original legacy. If you spend time helping people in need, I mean really spending time and energy, not just donating or virtue signaling, it's similar. An example would be teaching or coaching; being a big brother or adopting a child; being a good aunt or uncle; mentoring even, to a lesser degree, etc. Taking care of and benefiting someone who depends on you doing it.

>reduces humanity back down to level of any other simpler life form. Eat, fuck, die, repeat.

Though humans (most) are civilized and intelligent, we're still a great ape.

>It's a belief I find hugely depressing.

Why? It's our nature.

Plus I think what parents do a poor job expressing to non-parents is that kids are fun. Like, they're a lot of tedious work, especially in the first three or four years, but they're also like the most entertaining fun thing out there. You know how it's fun to be around people who are really having fun? It's like that, but often.

Just as a top-of-mind example: All through my adulthood, I really disliked Halloween. Just not my thing, too much pressure to pick a creative costume, then go to a tedious party. But last night I had such a great time taking my five-year-old trick-or-treating. Because it's so new and exciting and fun for her, and that's infectious! But that sort of thing happens a lot.

That's what the metaphorical "cake" is. But that doesn't mean "that's it, there is no other joy to seek in life now", like the parent comment seems to be inferring. It's just one source of joy, but one that is hard to capture any other way.

I think you misunderstood the comment. "Cake" in this thread is just a metaphor for "that which brings you joy". It is inarguably the case that peoples' children are one of the things that bring them joy.

None of the rest of what you seem to have read into it is written there.