Liked ‘the big picture’ bit, the tone change makes this.
I do feel though that this and other posts are less focussed on one of the key aspects beyond the effect on parents and the instrumental value of kids when they’re grown up, namely the inherent value of a new, independent consciousness. Whether that’s a positive experience of the world is a huge consideration, which you do mention; personally I would err on the side of optimism given human progress.
I’m also concerned around valuing children based on their chance of having a big impact when adult. This puts a lot of pressure on parents and potentially children for an outcome that is distant and largely out of their control, could encourage thinking of kids in terms of ‘successes’ and ‘failures’ rather than rounded people (with a high bar for ‘success’), and could be counter-productive in enabling thriving.
My personal experience is that I did a lot of intellectualising about why I shouldn’t have children when I wasn’t ready for them, and when I was ready didn’t need any particular reasoned justification. Make of that what you will...
Liked ‘the big picture’ bit, the tone change makes this.
I do feel though that this and other posts are less focussed on one of the key aspects beyond the effect on parents and the instrumental value of kids when they’re grown up, namely the inherent value of a new, independent consciousness. Whether that’s a positive experience of the world is a huge consideration, which you do mention; personally I would err on the side of optimism given human progress.
I’m also concerned around valuing children based on their chance of having a big impact when adult. This puts a lot of pressure on parents and potentially children for an outcome that is distant and largely out of their control, could encourage thinking of kids in terms of ‘successes’ and ‘failures’ rather than rounded people (with a high bar for ‘success’), and could be counter-productive in enabling thriving.
My personal experience is that I did a lot of intellectualising about why I shouldn’t have children when I wasn’t ready for them, and when I was ready didn’t need any particular reasoned justification. Make of that what you will...