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It’s interesting to look at the percentages. Across the countries surveyed three-quarters believe the future is frightening and more than half (56%) believe hum

It’s interesting to look at the percentages. Across the countries surveyed three-quarters believe the future is frightening and more than half (56%) believe humanity is doomed, but less than 40% are hesitant to have children. Perhaps it is a pointer to our drive to reproduce that despite the vast majority finding the future frightening and most believing the species is doomed, most are not hesitant to bring kids into the world. :)

LinuxBender 5y ago
Could this be a sub-conscious part of human nature? The more dangerous the environment, the more children one is driven to produce thus increasing the probability that one may survive? I believe there were studies on this in some of the poorer nations with high rates of infant mortality but I don't have the links handy.
- JohnFen 5y ago
  It's an interesting thought. I know that the birth rate is strongly inversely correlated with standard of living. The higher the standard of living a nation has, the lower the birthrate tends to be.
roenxi 5y ago
In 1920 the future was frightening and humanity was obviously doomed. That future came to pass too. The future being scary and people being doomed is not a new thing. The 1980s-2020s were unusually pleasant. Ignoring the cold war in the 80s and the ongoing background evil from 1990 to 2020.
- wsc981 5y ago
  These end-of-time predictions are part of many religions and the new climate religion isn't much different in regard. Though Christianity was way ahead of the game [0]. --- [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dates_predicted_for_apocalyptic_events https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dates_predicted_for_ap...
daxfohl 5y ago
People still had kids during the cultural revolution. People still had kids during the 80s famine in Africa. People are certainly still having kids in Afghanistan today.
- t-3 5y ago
  If anything, physical hardship and scarcity seem to strengthen the drive to survive and reproduce. Maybe what we have here is a vindication of the "old geezer" refrain that kids these days are too soft and too spoiled? Anecdotally, I don't plan on having children myself, but that's because I don't think humans (and probably mammals in general) are set up neurologically to create productive, sustainable systems in which life can thrive indefinitely. Let's fade away and give the birds or squid a shot, eh?
joeberon 5y ago
People want to have children for reasons that are more powerful than fear of the future: fear of missing out is a massive reason, also huge pressures from parents and family is another

LinuxBender 5y ago

Could this be a sub-conscious part of human nature? The more dangerous the environment, the more children one is driven to produce thus increasing the probability that one may survive? I believe there were studies on this in some of the poorer nations with high rates of infant mortality but I don't have the links handy.

JohnFen 5y ago
It's an interesting thought. I know that the birth rate is strongly inversely correlated with standard of living. The higher the standard of living a nation has, the lower the birthrate tends to be.

roenxi 5y ago

In 1920 the future was frightening and humanity was obviously doomed. That future came to pass too. The future being scary and people being doomed is not a new thing. The 1980s-2020s were unusually pleasant. Ignoring the cold war in the 80s and the ongoing background evil from 1990 to 2020.

wsc981 5y ago
These end-of-time predictions are part of many religions and the new climate religion isn't much different in regard. Though Christianity was way ahead of the game [0]. --- [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dates_predicted_for_apocalyptic_events https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dates_predicted_for_ap...

daxfohl 5y ago

People still had kids during the cultural revolution. People still had kids during the 80s famine in Africa. People are certainly still having kids in Afghanistan today.

t-3 5y ago
If anything, physical hardship and scarcity seem to strengthen the drive to survive and reproduce. Maybe what we have here is a vindication of the "old geezer" refrain that kids these days are too soft and too spoiled? Anecdotally, I don't plan on having children myself, but that's because I don't think humans (and probably mammals in general) are set up neurologically to create productive, sustainable systems in which life can thrive indefinitely. Let's fade away and give the birds or squid a shot, eh?

joeberon 5y ago

People want to have children for reasons that are more powerful than fear of the future: fear of missing out is a massive reason, also huge pressures from parents and family is another