Life is risky and annoying, I can't deny it. But more fundamentally why were you put here? To make the bosses' numbers look good? Your private numbers? Boil

Life is risky and annoying, I can't deny it. But more fundamentally why were you put here? To make the bosses' numbers look good? Your private numbers? Boil it all down to intended and actual outcomes. What have we been been sold is the goal? First and foremost, we satisfy the biological needs and work our way up from there. I think that imperative has been hijacked to become "you must live the 'good life'", which in modernity equates to consumerism. Hooray for plastic and glass and lithium. I'm not saying don't create eWaste as a part of living, and there's a lot of waste to just existing in all regards. But, the longness of time is an awful thing to contemplate - our insignificance in the grand story of Long Time makes trinkets meaningless. Anyhow, starting from biological, we subsist and reproduce. Reproduction is the closest thing we'll get to immortality. If we physically can do it, we are foolish not to if we care about mattering at all in Long Time. And, we should make more babies than replacement just to account for mishaps and developmental failure. Along those lines, females are more valuable than males if you consider Long Time. Men are quite disposable historically, so keep your head on a swivel but also protect the women and girls you love if you are a man. Beyond the biological, we get all the human civilizational gravy: culture, writing, government, architecture, chemistry/medicine, physics/energy, computing/AI, etc. All that stuff must synergize with the biological or it will either be cast off or fester and then undo and destroy us. Any groups or leaders promulgating actively antagonistic social movements or technologies are either herd management fanatics or anti-human or both. Even if some of those individuals are earnest and well-meaning, if they are promoting anti-human agendas, they must be opposed. If you look at fertility rates worldwide, we're on the brink right now, and I contend that's not an accident. Everywhere you look are social campaigns against family formation, chemical pollution and toxic medical and street drugs, and crap food weakening us. We're two generations from complete collapse if you look at the birth rates and health indicators. > when you have kids your mindset flips to being a provider. I'm convinced it's brain chemistry, and it's friggin' glorious when (ok yes, if) you can come out the other side triumphant. Your body and mind remember the challenges and fear, and it's a big reward to living and overcoming that. Let me say it again differently - making kids is a key aspect of being human, you're not fully living unless you jump through that portal if you are able. > Well these days that can take 30 years. There is a long series of choices that leads to kiddos' inability to mature, assuming they are physically healthy. Mobile apps and Youtube/Reddit/Roblox have been a real retardant to child development. You can have a house policy against it for kids, and you can always allow them to pig out on the mental candy when they go to friends' houses. > Throw in a divorce, which is pretty common along the way I am ashamed to admit I didn't know how low the real divorce rate actually is[1]. It looks like it stands at 14.6 per 1000 married women become divorced per year, down from the boomer peak in 1980 at 22.6 per 1000. Them's good odds you can make it work, don't believe the "50% of marriages end in divorce" hype! I think men and women need each other because it's so rough out there, and people are generally loyal after they make a commitment. Knowing Jesus gives you a 50% bonus to staying together until one of you dies[2]. > Having the drive and energy to launch and lead something entrepreneural in your 50s is pretty rare. The numbers say 45 is the sweet spot for successful entrepreneurship[3]. I agree that lack of energy is the most concerning impediment to success, but most people are not cut out for going their own way and taking on extra risk anyhow. I'm looking forward to freedom and putting all my energy into my startup when my boys are graduated. I'm in my 50's and I feel healthy enough to do it. Finally, I know everything I'm saying above is stuff nobody ever says. I'm right and all of those other people are wrong/misguided/evil (sometimes). And, I'm ok with not having all the answers and making the wrong choices myself in my own life. [1] https://www.bgsu.edu/ncfmr/resources/data/family-profiles/FP-24-11.html https://www.bgsu.edu/ncfmr/resources/data/family-profiles/FP... [2] https://web.archive.org/web/20210624081456/https://hfh.fas.harvard.edu/religion-and-divorce https://web.archive.org/web/20210624081456/https://hfh.fas.h... [3] https://mitsloan.mit.edu/shared/ods/documents?PublicationDocumentID=6212 https://mitsloan.mit.edu/shared/ods/documents?PublicationDoc...