I think some of the ethics depends on the extent to which you believe we are at a “hinge of history”. The effects of children on innovation are not just that your child specifically might invent something. It’s also that younger societies tend to more innovative (culturally, politically, and technically). So if there are lots of young people at once the culture might be more dynamic, open to new ideas, and encouraging of risk taking. Ross Douthat lays out this argument in “the decadent society”. Having kids now skews the demographic curve younger for a long but obviously finite time. So if you think it’s more important that we have a lot of innovation this century rather than later on, I think that points in favor of having kids, but if you don’t then maybe it matters less as far as innovation goes.
Of course I am not in the business of convincing people who don’t want kids to have them or vice versa.
I think some of the ethics depends on the extent to which you believe we are at a “hinge of history”. The effects of children on innovation are not just that your child specifically might invent something. It’s also that younger societies tend to more innovative (culturally, politically, and technically). So if there are lots of young people at once the culture might be more dynamic, open to new ideas, and encouraging of risk taking. Ross Douthat lays out this argument in “the decadent society”. Having kids now skews the demographic curve younger for a long but obviously finite time. So if you think it’s more important that we have a lot of innovation this century rather than later on, I think that points in favor of having kids, but if you don’t then maybe it matters less as far as innovation goes.
Of course I am not in the business of convincing people who don’t want kids to have them or vice versa.