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I don't know why you're being downvoted, our current norms are without question far far better but they are the outlier for human history. Massive technological

by Spivak 3y ago

I don't know why you're being downvoted, our current norms are without question far far better but they are the outlier for human history. Massive technological advancement came with massive social advancements in a really short timespan all things considered. I'm glad that making lots of babies is no longer something that's necessary for the survival of society and the norms that pressure (force) everyone healthy enough to have children to do so have fallen by the wayside as a result.

nradov 3y ago
Expect to see some of those social advancements reverse as declining birth rates threaten the survival of some societies. I'm not saying this is a good thing, just that it will happen. We're already seeing that in places like Russia where the government is pressuring women to have more children.
- tomrod 3y ago
  I'm with Kurzgesaget on the interpretation here. Declining birth rates will be a problem, but it's not insurmountable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBudghsdByQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBudghsdByQ
btilly 3y ago
I think that I was being downvoted because people found what I said unpleasant. A certain fraction of people assume that the reason for saying something unpleasant is that you must support that. Which makes it easy to incorrectly jump from my saying that history is full of a specific set of attitudes, to believing that I must support that set of attitudes. For example, consider reading a biography of a scientist who studies links between IQ and racism. If the scientist finds weak links, most people will judge the scientist not racist. If the scientist finds strong links, most people will say that the scientist is racist. I encountered this example in https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691190808/the-genetic-lottery https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691190808/th.... HN tends to be better about this error than most communities. But it is still not immune. Come to a conclusion that people don't like, and people tend to jump on you.

by Spivak 3y ago

nradov 3y ago

Expect to see some of those social advancements reverse as declining birth rates threaten the survival of some societies. I'm not saying this is a good thing, just that it will happen. We're already seeing that in places like Russia where the government is pressuring women to have more children.

tomrod 3y ago
I'm with Kurzgesaget on the interpretation here. Declining birth rates will be a problem, but it's not insurmountable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBudghsdByQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBudghsdByQ

btilly 3y ago

I think that I was being downvoted because people found what I said unpleasant. A certain fraction of people assume that the reason for saying something unpleasant is that you must support that. Which makes it easy to incorrectly jump from my saying that history is full of a specific set of attitudes, to believing that I must support that set of attitudes. For example, consider reading a biography of a scientist who studies links between IQ and racism. If the scientist finds weak links, most people will judge the scientist not racist. If the scientist finds strong links, most people will say that the scientist is racist. I encountered this example in https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691190808/the-genetic-lottery https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691190808/th.... HN tends to be better about this error than most communities. But it is still not immune. Come to a conclusion that people don't like, and people tend to jump on you.