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> Reproduction has been working great for keeping population up Well, if keeping population up is your goal, then fine, sure. Obviously some people have diffe

> Reproduction has been working great for keeping population up Well, if keeping population up is your goal, then fine, sure. Obviously some people have different priorities.

pavlov 11y ago
Phrased like that, it's basically "myself before the children". A lot of people have an emotional response to that. Most people want to have children, and many even see the cyclic regeneration of the entire population as a net benefit to humanity. If anti-aging is to become a popular movement, it needs to have better answers to the questions of how to solve overpopulation and what a world with nearly no children should be like to be livable.
- gknoy 11y ago
  I would rather die by my own choice, once I no longer feel I contribute to the world(s) that I and my progeny inhabit. Even then, there are things I might want to do -- learn languages, master calligraphy, etc. In a hypothetical diaspora of space exploration, the option to be immortal sounds like a HUGE benefit.
- vectorjohn 11y ago
  The question of overpopulation is a non-problem. You can't have children, period. It has to be regulated. There will have to be replacement for accidental death and people who choose to end their life early (or people that leave to space, which I think will never be a big number, but who knows). To replace those, either a random lottery or a lottery for "qualified parents" (who want to), whatever that is. I say lottery because anything other than basic requirements would get really controversial really fast. I'm not sure what you mean "what a world with nearly no children should be like to be livable"? I don't see how it would be any more or less livable. That doesn't even seem to make any sense.
  - semi-extrinsic 11y ago
    Have you considered that in a world without children, many people would likely suffer from serious depression and other mental disorders? There is a profound reason most humans choose to have children even though they're a lot of work and often a pain in the neck.
    - nly 11y ago
      > There is a profound reason most humans choose to have children even though they're a lot of work and often a pain in the neck. Pretty much everyone I've ever asked who have had kids wasn't consciously trying for their first child. I've personally always felt that a lot of parents later rationalise a decision they didn't really make.
      - semi-extrinsic 11y ago
        According to the paper "Intended and Unintended Births in the United States: 1982–2010" where they interviewed 12 000 women, for women aged 15-24 either married or living together with their partner, a little more than half of all pregnancies were intended. I think it's safe to assume that most of those were first pregnancies.
  - duaneb 11y ago
    > The question of overpopulation is a non-problem. You can't have children, period. It has to be regulated. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welcome_to_the_Monkey_House_%28short_story%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welcome_to_the_Monkey_House_%28... Frankly, what a depressing world.
  - pavlov 11y ago
    I'm not sure what you mean "what a world with nearly no children should be like to be livable"? I don't see how it would be any more or less livable. That doesn't even seem to make any sense. Do you have children? I do. Given the choice of extending my own life indefinitely but having my daughter vanish from the world, or dying today but knowing her life will go on, I would undoubtedly choose the latter. It's sentimental, but that doesn't make it any less true. To many people, children bring a fundamental joy to the world, and it's hard to understand why it should be replaced with neverending calligraphy practice in spaceships.
- knodi123 11y ago
  > many even see the cyclic regeneration of the entire population as a net benefit to humanity Is life a team sport, where we're all just trying to get as many points as possible for "team human"? The flaw in your argument is that at some point, you're going to have to pick a maximum allowable age. How old is "too old"? At what age should we set mandatory executions? And, on a side note, have you seen Logan's Run?

> Reproduction has been working great for keeping population up Well, if keeping population up is your goal, then fine, sure. Obviously some people have different priorities.

pavlov 11y ago

Phrased like that, it's basically "myself before the children". A lot of people have an emotional response to that. Most people want to have children, and many even see the cyclic regeneration of the entire population as a net benefit to humanity. If anti-aging is to become a popular movement, it needs to have better answers to the questions of how to solve overpopulation and what a world with nearly no children should be like to be livable.

gknoy 11y ago
I would rather die by my own choice, once I no longer feel I contribute to the world(s) that I and my progeny inhabit. Even then, there are things I might want to do -- learn languages, master calligraphy, etc. In a hypothetical diaspora of space exploration, the option to be immortal sounds like a HUGE benefit.
vectorjohn 11y ago
The question of overpopulation is a non-problem. You can't have children, period. It has to be regulated. There will have to be replacement for accidental death and people who choose to end their life early (or people that leave to space, which I think will never be a big number, but who knows). To replace those, either a random lottery or a lottery for "qualified parents" (who want to), whatever that is. I say lottery because anything other than basic requirements would get really controversial really fast. I'm not sure what you mean "what a world with nearly no children should be like to be livable"? I don't see how it would be any more or less livable. That doesn't even seem to make any sense.
- semi-extrinsic 11y ago
  Have you considered that in a world without children, many people would likely suffer from serious depression and other mental disorders? There is a profound reason most humans choose to have children even though they're a lot of work and often a pain in the neck.
  - nly 11y ago
    > There is a profound reason most humans choose to have children even though they're a lot of work and often a pain in the neck. Pretty much everyone I've ever asked who have had kids wasn't consciously trying for their first child. I've personally always felt that a lot of parents later rationalise a decision they didn't really make.
    - semi-extrinsic 11y ago
      According to the paper "Intended and Unintended Births in the United States: 1982–2010" where they interviewed 12 000 women, for women aged 15-24 either married or living together with their partner, a little more than half of all pregnancies were intended. I think it's safe to assume that most of those were first pregnancies.
- duaneb 11y ago
  > The question of overpopulation is a non-problem. You can't have children, period. It has to be regulated. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welcome_to_the_Monkey_House_%28short_story%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welcome_to_the_Monkey_House_%28... Frankly, what a depressing world.
- pavlov 11y ago
  I'm not sure what you mean "what a world with nearly no children should be like to be livable"? I don't see how it would be any more or less livable. That doesn't even seem to make any sense. Do you have children? I do. Given the choice of extending my own life indefinitely but having my daughter vanish from the world, or dying today but knowing her life will go on, I would undoubtedly choose the latter. It's sentimental, but that doesn't make it any less true. To many people, children bring a fundamental joy to the world, and it's hard to understand why it should be replaced with neverending calligraphy practice in spaceships.
knodi123 11y ago
> many even see the cyclic regeneration of the entire population as a net benefit to humanity Is life a team sport, where we're all just trying to get as many points as possible for "team human"? The flaw in your argument is that at some point, you're going to have to pick a maximum allowable age. How old is "too old"? At what age should we set mandatory executions? And, on a side note, have you seen Logan's Run?