3 ms·

Not being facetious, but you aren’t exactly reading me correctly. I’m not saying that I don’t want kids because of the costs. I’m saying I never wanted kids (ha

Not being facetious, but you aren’t exactly reading me correctly. I’m not saying that I don’t want kids because of the costs. I’m saying I never wanted kids (having thought about this a bit I think it’s mostly because of my inability to believe in religion; I don’t have any happy stories to tell children around life’s difficult questions), and as a result, I have saved a lot of money.

gumballindie 3y ago
It’s ok not to want kids but personally i just cant fathom ending a bloodline for no reason. I would feel bad for my ancestors. I feel like if they knew i did it they’d slap me. Though I can see why people chose not to have kids, all things considered.
- hotpotamus 3y ago
  I don’t see any reason to continue a bloodline either; there’s no reason to any of this and your ancestors are long past caring. They are gone as we all will be one day and then we will be inevitably forgotten. In theory, we each have 8 great great grandfathers (though these things are not always perfect). I can name 1 of mine because I dug the grave for his youngest daughter who was buried at his feet, but he is little more than a name on a stone to me. Can you name more? I’d say fundamentally that is what I don’t want to have to tell a child. Global warming isn’t looking too good either, and I’m happy to avoid that one as well.
  - gumballindie 3y ago
    I guess it depends on how one sees the future. My belief and hope is that we will become a space faring species and that we only have to hold on one or two more generations until we reach escape velocity, and once that happens we become “immortal”. We might indeed suffer from setbacks along the way but overall we will progress as we always did in the long run. And if that’s the case then it was all worth it.
    - hotpotamus 3y ago
      Yes, I’d consider this one of those religious beliefs (going onto eternal life in the sky) that I’m no longer capable of believing in. I’m sure it is helpful for those who are though.
      - gumballindie 3y ago
        I would love it if there was a religion focused on conquering space, but there is none afaik. Actually i wouldnt mind setting one up - could do with the tax breaks.
        hotpotamus 3y ago
        I'd say it exists and is called more or less "Techno Utopianism" to which you might call me an apostate. As a kid, I lost the belief in god pretty soon after the belief in Santa (he actually is a god if you think about it), but I held onto the belief in progress/technology, even believing in the possibility of immortality via cryopreservation. But a lifetime of slowly escalating global problems and declining political environments with few solutions in sight has made it hard to maintain any kind of optimism. Even AI, one of the keystone technologies of the Techno Utopian has turned out to be just an even better bullshit generator, all the while the carbon accumulates in our atmosphere at an ever increasing rate. Essentially, there is almost no part of this world I would wish to tell a child about, and seeing them today causes me much sadness. It used to be that I was envious of their youth because they would live to see science and tech advances that I would not, however these days I feel quite the opposite. Maybe I'm wrong; I hope I am, but it's hard to see a happy path for humanity these days.
        gumballindie 3y ago
        > Even AI, one of the keystone technologies of the Techno Utopian has turned out to be just an even better bullshit generator, all the while the carbon accumulates in our atmosphere at an ever increasing rate. I fully agree with this. Unfortunately ai is a bullshit generator and is controlled by bullshit people. I personally speculate that some are suffering from a mild form of schizofrenia but thats an entirely different topic. However i do recommend a change in personal environment because things while grim are not as grim as to wish an end to procreation. Life os pretty cool in some places - the further away from corporate dictatorships the better.

gumballindie 3y ago

It’s ok not to want kids but personally i just cant fathom ending a bloodline for no reason. I would feel bad for my ancestors. I feel like if they knew i did it they’d slap me. Though I can see why people chose not to have kids, all things considered.

hotpotamus 3y ago
I don’t see any reason to continue a bloodline either; there’s no reason to any of this and your ancestors are long past caring. They are gone as we all will be one day and then we will be inevitably forgotten. In theory, we each have 8 great great grandfathers (though these things are not always perfect). I can name 1 of mine because I dug the grave for his youngest daughter who was buried at his feet, but he is little more than a name on a stone to me. Can you name more? I’d say fundamentally that is what I don’t want to have to tell a child. Global warming isn’t looking too good either, and I’m happy to avoid that one as well.
- gumballindie 3y ago
  I guess it depends on how one sees the future. My belief and hope is that we will become a space faring species and that we only have to hold on one or two more generations until we reach escape velocity, and once that happens we become “immortal”. We might indeed suffer from setbacks along the way but overall we will progress as we always did in the long run. And if that’s the case then it was all worth it.
  - hotpotamus 3y ago
    Yes, I’d consider this one of those religious beliefs (going onto eternal life in the sky) that I’m no longer capable of believing in. I’m sure it is helpful for those who are though.
    - gumballindie 3y ago
      I would love it if there was a religion focused on conquering space, but there is none afaik. Actually i wouldnt mind setting one up - could do with the tax breaks.
      - hotpotamus 3y ago
        I'd say it exists and is called more or less "Techno Utopianism" to which you might call me an apostate. As a kid, I lost the belief in god pretty soon after the belief in Santa (he actually is a god if you think about it), but I held onto the belief in progress/technology, even believing in the possibility of immortality via cryopreservation. But a lifetime of slowly escalating global problems and declining political environments with few solutions in sight has made it hard to maintain any kind of optimism. Even AI, one of the keystone technologies of the Techno Utopian has turned out to be just an even better bullshit generator, all the while the carbon accumulates in our atmosphere at an ever increasing rate. Essentially, there is almost no part of this world I would wish to tell a child about, and seeing them today causes me much sadness. It used to be that I was envious of their youth because they would live to see science and tech advances that I would not, however these days I feel quite the opposite. Maybe I'm wrong; I hope I am, but it's hard to see a happy path for humanity these days.
        gumballindie 3y ago
        > Even AI, one of the keystone technologies of the Techno Utopian has turned out to be just an even better bullshit generator, all the while the carbon accumulates in our atmosphere at an ever increasing rate. I fully agree with this. Unfortunately ai is a bullshit generator and is controlled by bullshit people. I personally speculate that some are suffering from a mild form of schizofrenia but thats an entirely different topic. However i do recommend a change in personal environment because things while grim are not as grim as to wish an end to procreation. Life os pretty cool in some places - the further away from corporate dictatorships the better.