For generations throughout human history many have had similar thoughts, that having children was sinful since they would have to suffer through the human experience. Whether ultimately right or wrong, they failed to propagate and so their opinions didn't matter.
I said that this was a question of morality not intelligence. If one believes they are at least more capable than their peers at raising a child, then to refuse is what I consider to be ultimately immoral. The future generation comes regardless of you decide.
If your game plan is to die out, how smart are you really? It's literally the Darwin Awards on mass scale.
What a great question, thanks for the thought provoking challenge.
The best way I can engage with this is asking a question in return: is someone who crosses the street safely "smarter" than someone who wanders into traffic and dies?
If we think the survivor is smarter, then we can ask your question in another way: "why is it smart to wish to live another day?" If we come up with a satisfactory answer here, we will get closer to answering your question too.
Well, given that wandering into traffic likely causes some sort of pain and is a terrible way to end a life, I'd say it's not a smart choice in most situations. If the goal for a person is to die, e.g. because they're in terrible pain, then there are usually smarter (more reliable, less painful, less harmful to others, ...) options available. But of course, there are likely situations, where crossing the street hastily is a smart choice, e.g. when you're being chased by something even more dangerous. Otherwise ...
> If we think the survivor is smarter, then we can ask your question in another way: "why is it smart to wish to live another day?"
You can only accumulate pleasure and good experiences if you stay alive. Hence staying alive is a smart choice if the chances of having good experiences is high enough and the chances of having lots of terrible experiences is low enough.
Depends on the person's goals and risk tolerances.
Directly addressing what was previously being talked about, my thoughts are that there is nothing smart or not smart about wanting pieces of your DNA to continue existing or not wanting pieces of your DNA to continue existing. It is simply a preference, like liking a certain color.
However, if your goal is to maximize your power and/or ability to obtain resources/services, it may be smarter to have children, especially in certain parts of the world and especially for your old age. But that may not be the goal for everyone.
Pretty much life as it always was... Sounds to more like people are stuck in a comfort zone Or in a TV world of the 80s/90s with sitcoms like full house.
My point is, I can get the full experience (namely the called out smiling) without them being mine.
I can tell you from experience, it is different if it is your own child.
And, as much as I don’t have the experience to say how my life would be different with a child, you appear to lack the experience to know how your life would be different without a child.
I have over 25 years of childless adult life, an experience many of my parent acquaintances don’t - can’t - have. It’s been a fulfilling life.
That said, I appreciate the sentiment. Thank you. :)