4 ms·

Perhaps not alone, but very very far from the norm. If I may ask, How old are you all? What else about your demographics/work environment could set you so far a

Perhaps not alone, but very very far from the norm. If I may ask, How old are you all? What else about your demographics/work environment could set you so far apart from the average stats?

icelancer 7y ago
> How old are you all? What else about your demographics/work environment could set you so far apart from the average stats? They are young (not yet 40 years of age), have above-average incomes, and live in urban areas. If you cross-reference this population with desire to have kids, you will find them dragging the reproduction rate in this country massively downwards. The opposite is true about... every facet of what I just said. EDIT: Many people have pointed out why this is a terrible trend, for reasons that are obvious.
- erklik 7y ago
  > Many people have pointed out why this is a terrible trend, for reasons that are obvious Are they? I am not sure I see the obvious reasons. Considering the future, maybe its a better idea to not have children.
  - cameronbrown 7y ago
    That's a little cynical isn't it? The world is improving by many, many metrics. Absolute poverty isn't just going down, it's accelerating towards zero. We're also hitting a point where everyone who can be, is connected. Online education is better than ever (for those who seek it). I could go on.
    - erklik 7y ago
      Its defintely cynical. Yes, the world is improving in many ways. Poverty is getting pretty better, diseases are fairly easier to fight, and infanticide isn't a thing. However, its also clear that governments have seemingly no interest trying to fight climate change and a large amount of the world is going to be suffering from the consequences of that in the future.
      - cameronbrown 7y ago
        My personal belief is that humans are bad at seeing into the future, but are great at mobilising around here-and-now problems. And I believe the next generation will be the ones to start tackling it while seeing the effects. I think 100% irreversible processes like microplastics in oceans is something that much more urgently needs dealing with. Repairing the climate is easy compared to filtering trillions of molecules back out the ocean.
        erklik 7y ago
        Well, maybe but the time it takes for the next generation to get in power, and actually start making changes, it might be too late for many many cities of the world. In times like this, isn't it more responsible to not have children?
      - jesssse 7y ago
        Malthus lives!
  - icelancer 7y ago
    If educated, professional, and higher-than-average net worth couples are not having kids but people of the inverse characteristics are having kids (at an accelerated rate)...
- SonOfLilit 7y ago
  It has its ups and downs. You may want to read for example https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/04/22/1960-the-year-the-singularity-was-cancelled/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/04/22/1960-the-year-the-sing...
syshum 7y ago
Mid 30's how am I "very far from the norm", you must not be looking at the same stats that I am. Birth Rates are plummeting in the US, we have the lowest birth rates in all of recorded history right now, and if you remove immigration and 2nd generation children (children born to immigrants to the US) we have a massively negative population growth. No my friend, my generations is not, and does not want to have children
- SonOfLilit 7y ago
  Our generation is less keen on having kids than any before it, true, but 1 in 50 at mid 30s is still orders of magnitude lower than the statistics I'm aware of. I strongly suspect you have some sort of selection bias going on that you're not aware of.

Perhaps not alone, but very very far from the norm. If I may ask, How old are you all? What else about your demographics/work environment could set you so far apart from the average stats?

icelancer 7y ago

> How old are you all? What else about your demographics/work environment could set you so far apart from the average stats? They are young (not yet 40 years of age), have above-average incomes, and live in urban areas. If you cross-reference this population with desire to have kids, you will find them dragging the reproduction rate in this country massively downwards. The opposite is true about... every facet of what I just said. EDIT: Many people have pointed out why this is a terrible trend, for reasons that are obvious.

erklik 7y ago
> Many people have pointed out why this is a terrible trend, for reasons that are obvious Are they? I am not sure I see the obvious reasons. Considering the future, maybe its a better idea to not have children.
- cameronbrown 7y ago
  That's a little cynical isn't it? The world is improving by many, many metrics. Absolute poverty isn't just going down, it's accelerating towards zero. We're also hitting a point where everyone who can be, is connected. Online education is better than ever (for those who seek it). I could go on.
  - erklik 7y ago
    Its defintely cynical. Yes, the world is improving in many ways. Poverty is getting pretty better, diseases are fairly easier to fight, and infanticide isn't a thing. However, its also clear that governments have seemingly no interest trying to fight climate change and a large amount of the world is going to be suffering from the consequences of that in the future.
    - cameronbrown 7y ago
      My personal belief is that humans are bad at seeing into the future, but are great at mobilising around here-and-now problems. And I believe the next generation will be the ones to start tackling it while seeing the effects. I think 100% irreversible processes like microplastics in oceans is something that much more urgently needs dealing with. Repairing the climate is easy compared to filtering trillions of molecules back out the ocean.
      - erklik 7y ago
        Well, maybe but the time it takes for the next generation to get in power, and actually start making changes, it might be too late for many many cities of the world. In times like this, isn't it more responsible to not have children?
    - jesssse 7y ago
      Malthus lives!
- icelancer 7y ago
  If educated, professional, and higher-than-average net worth couples are not having kids but people of the inverse characteristics are having kids (at an accelerated rate)...
SonOfLilit 7y ago
It has its ups and downs. You may want to read for example https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/04/22/1960-the-year-the-singularity-was-cancelled/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/04/22/1960-the-year-the-sing...

syshum 7y ago

Mid 30's how am I "very far from the norm", you must not be looking at the same stats that I am. Birth Rates are plummeting in the US, we have the lowest birth rates in all of recorded history right now, and if you remove immigration and 2nd generation children (children born to immigrants to the US) we have a massively negative population growth. No my friend, my generations is not, and does not want to have children

SonOfLilit 7y ago
Our generation is less keen on having kids than any before it, true, but 1 in 50 at mid 30s is still orders of magnitude lower than the statistics I'm aware of. I strongly suspect you have some sort of selection bias going on that you're not aware of.