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It’ll probably solve itself, if there’s any genetic component to the desire for childrearing. If all women have complete choice in the matter, then only the wom

It’ll probably solve itself, if there’s any genetic component to the desire for childrearing. If all women have complete choice in the matter, then only the women who do want children will actually pass their genes onto the next generation, and it won’t take very long for the other alleles to be extinct.

lotsofpulp 2y ago
What evidence is there that alleles are causing women to not want children? I would guess watching a video and learning about the effects and risks of pregnancy/childbirth/breastfeeding/infant rearing is capable of convincing someone to not want children.
- ninkendo 2y ago
  No idea, I’m just guessing. But I don’t think the number of people who want children after learning about the details is zero, right? There’s still a healthy contingent of the population who see all that and say “yeah but I still want children”. And I don’t think it’s a huge stretch to assume that desire is driven by genetics… especially because childrearing is so costly and difficult, there’s gotta be some explanation for why people keep doing it, and I don’t think it’s because every woman in history has just had it forced on her non-consensually. Another way of thinking about: the desire to reproduce (and ensure your offspring survive enough to reproduce) is one of the most basic and important things a genome can code for, and we have billions of years of evolution ensuring that we keep wanting to do it. I don’t think it’s as simple as people just wanting to have sex… the desire for childrearing is a lot more robust than any one thing, or anything you can thwart by just showing someone a video of childbirth. Sure, there are some women who would see the negative sides and decide it’s not for them, but they’re selecting themselves out of future gene pools by doing this, so the system will rapidly reach equilibrium again.

lotsofpulp 2y ago

What evidence is there that alleles are causing women to not want children? I would guess watching a video and learning about the effects and risks of pregnancy/childbirth/breastfeeding/infant rearing is capable of convincing someone to not want children.

ninkendo 2y ago
No idea, I’m just guessing. But I don’t think the number of people who want children after learning about the details is zero, right? There’s still a healthy contingent of the population who see all that and say “yeah but I still want children”. And I don’t think it’s a huge stretch to assume that desire is driven by genetics… especially because childrearing is so costly and difficult, there’s gotta be some explanation for why people keep doing it, and I don’t think it’s because every woman in history has just had it forced on her non-consensually. Another way of thinking about: the desire to reproduce (and ensure your offspring survive enough to reproduce) is one of the most basic and important things a genome can code for, and we have billions of years of evolution ensuring that we keep wanting to do it. I don’t think it’s as simple as people just wanting to have sex… the desire for childrearing is a lot more robust than any one thing, or anything you can thwart by just showing someone a video of childbirth. Sure, there are some women who would see the negative sides and decide it’s not for them, but they’re selecting themselves out of future gene pools by doing this, so the system will rapidly reach equilibrium again.