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How many of your ancestors can you name? I can name one of my 8 great-great grandfathers (theoretically I have 8 but it was a small town and these things are no

How many of your ancestors can you name? I can name one of my 8 great-great grandfathers (theoretically I have 8 but it was a small town and these things are not perfect) because I dug the grave for his youngest daughter myself and saw his tombstone. That is all he is to me. I cannot name any others. Eventually your children will be as forgotten as my ancestors. I’m not saying not to enjoy the time we have here, but that doesn’t mean that that comes easy or that the burdens of existence are ones I would wish on a child.

xyzelement 3y ago
You do you. I love the idea that in the future, thousands of people might descend from me. If they don't know my name - who cares? It's not about me, it's about them!
- hotpotamus 3y ago
  If you never meet them and they do not know who you are, it would seem that they are effectively strangers. I’ve long accepted that this is just something I perceive differently than others. What bothers me is the idea that it’s just some thoughtless, selfish; never-want-to-growup affectation that those who do not wish to have children posses; some of us have thought through things quite thoroughly, and perhaps have reasons you do not seem to have considered. I will also say that if you are concerned about future people, I would endeavor to take on climate change in any way I could if I were you. That sure isn’t looking too good either. It actually makes me quite glad I never wanted children due to all the above stuff; it’s another conversation I’m glad I’ll never have to have. Frankly I’m continually stunned that more parents aren’t outraged over what we’re doing to the world. I’m sure they have more near-term worries (as I said they’ve got to pay exorbitant college bills and all that), but the consequences sure look like they’re already starting to bite.
  - xyzelement 3y ago
    When I just came to the US in 1993, I remember a crazy-looking substitute teacher walking into our 6th grade class and deciding to share his peak oil anxiety with us and the logical conclusion that people shouldn't have kids because of it. I am convinced that now that "peak oil" is no longer a popular concern, exactly 0 people said "oops, I guess I should have had kids" - they just pivoted to using climate as their retroactive justification for their decision. So you're right to observe that the kinds of people who become parents are less likely to be paralyzed by climate anxiety but I suspect there is a very strong self-selection bias in either group, and if climate was "solved" tomorrow, people with existential anxiety would find something else to justify their anxiety with. The fact is there was always "a reason" to be existentially anxious: plagues, poverty, communism, nuclear, terrorism, etc. And yet people who "ignored" those problems and went on to have kids were right to do so.
    - hotpotamus 3y ago
      > The fact is there was always "a reason" to be existentially anxious I would add the certainly of death and the extinction of consciousness and all you ever were to that list, but as we've established, I'm a bit preoccupied with that one personally. Have you considered that there are more authoritative sources of climate science than your "crazy-looking substitute teacher"?

xyzelement 3y ago

You do you. I love the idea that in the future, thousands of people might descend from me. If they don't know my name - who cares? It's not about me, it's about them!

hotpotamus 3y ago
If you never meet them and they do not know who you are, it would seem that they are effectively strangers. I’ve long accepted that this is just something I perceive differently than others. What bothers me is the idea that it’s just some thoughtless, selfish; never-want-to-growup affectation that those who do not wish to have children posses; some of us have thought through things quite thoroughly, and perhaps have reasons you do not seem to have considered. I will also say that if you are concerned about future people, I would endeavor to take on climate change in any way I could if I were you. That sure isn’t looking too good either. It actually makes me quite glad I never wanted children due to all the above stuff; it’s another conversation I’m glad I’ll never have to have. Frankly I’m continually stunned that more parents aren’t outraged over what we’re doing to the world. I’m sure they have more near-term worries (as I said they’ve got to pay exorbitant college bills and all that), but the consequences sure look like they’re already starting to bite.
- xyzelement 3y ago
  When I just came to the US in 1993, I remember a crazy-looking substitute teacher walking into our 6th grade class and deciding to share his peak oil anxiety with us and the logical conclusion that people shouldn't have kids because of it. I am convinced that now that "peak oil" is no longer a popular concern, exactly 0 people said "oops, I guess I should have had kids" - they just pivoted to using climate as their retroactive justification for their decision. So you're right to observe that the kinds of people who become parents are less likely to be paralyzed by climate anxiety but I suspect there is a very strong self-selection bias in either group, and if climate was "solved" tomorrow, people with existential anxiety would find something else to justify their anxiety with. The fact is there was always "a reason" to be existentially anxious: plagues, poverty, communism, nuclear, terrorism, etc. And yet people who "ignored" those problems and went on to have kids were right to do so.
  - hotpotamus 3y ago
    > The fact is there was always "a reason" to be existentially anxious I would add the certainly of death and the extinction of consciousness and all you ever were to that list, but as we've established, I'm a bit preoccupied with that one personally. Have you considered that there are more authoritative sources of climate science than your "crazy-looking substitute teacher"?