No one wants to have kids anymore • Hacker News Board

Re: No one wants to have kids anymore

#451

Post by Copernicron » Wed, Dec 07, 2022, 9:31 PM UTC

wil421 wrote: post #100

thr0wawayf00 wrote: post #36

> But deep down I get it. Babies are a huge opportunity cost. Financially speaking, they are like winning the lottery but backwards. You can't even think of having one without cancelling your subscription to a good night's sleep. And if you take into account inflation, economic recession, and the rest of the news cycle's highlight reel, even a one-child family can seem to have one too many mouths to fish Lego pieces…

If you only care about yourself go for it. I guess it’s somewhat sobering realizing you’re gonna be alone and your genetic material will be a dead end. I have 3 kids 3 and under and probably got 4 hours of sleep last night. Wouldn’t trade it for the world. My kids are not treated like a drain on my potential investments. Sure I can’t do my hobbies all the time but I can take my kids fishing and kayaking. The trips ar…

My “genetic material” is a fucking dumpster fire. I struggle daily with incurable mental illness and I’m also a carrier for several debilitating diseases. I have chosen not to have children and nothing of value will be lost.

Re: No one wants to have kids anymore

#452

Post by skinnymuch » Thu, Dec 08, 2022, 12:16 AM UTC

achenet wrote: post #256

skinnymuch wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should still do ketamine with your friend!

I second that. Life is absurd, and ketamine is quite safe if done properly.

Ah is it? Good to know. I have yet to try it and my friends are becoming parents.

Re: No one wants to have kids anymore

#453

Post by skinnymuch » Thu, Dec 08, 2022, 12:18 AM UTC

ryanwaggoner wrote: post #393

meindnoch wrote: post #168

One morning last week, I’ve noticed that my wife was walking around the house in unusual silence. I thought I might have upset her with something, but couldn’t really recall any transgression that would have made her mad. Then after a few minutes of this, she dropped a pregnancy test in front of me, with a “+” sign shown on the little display. Looks like I’m going to be a father! I knew that this could happen sooner…

Ketamine, psilocybin, and therapy have all made me a much better father, FWIW.

I’m having trouble finding affordable therapy that will care about my usage of shrooms and to a lesser extent, weed, as part of making me better. In between full time work so paying full price for therapy out of pocket would be a bit much.

Re: No one wants to have kids anymore

#454

Post by taylodl » Thu, Dec 08, 2022, 8:57 PM UTC

If AI and robots are going to be our progeny then what do we need kids for?

I raised three kids. They're now starting to think about having kids of their own. I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. But I don't judge anybody who doesn't have kids, I know many couples my age who don't. Which tells you this isn't a recent trend because I'm not exactly a young man!

We shouldn't be forcing people to have kids. The world needs fewer people, not more, and if people are naturally selecting themselves out of the gene pool and not being forced by government to do so then I guess so much the better.

It really is a Brave New World!

Re: No one wants to have kids anymore

#455

Post by Fire-Dragon-DoL » Sat, Dec 10, 2022, 2:07 PM UTC

We wanted to have kids, changed country and had 2!

We are very frugal compared to the average people in Canada, so we are still able to save for college and retirement.

Having kids pushed to take ownership of my finances, plan ahead and so many benefits.

Yeah, I lost a lot of sleep too.

Overall, having a child helped me grow enormously, but I think owning a company with employees might end up with some overlap in what you learn (pure theory). So if the goal is growing, you could skip the child.

The affection a child gives you "for free" is invaluable though. You don't experience that without children. If you are a physical person be aware, children are the first time when all your hug needs will be satisfied!

One thing that I'm still processing is the following: my parents (one if them) fucked up their retirement even though they started life way ahead of me (millions ahead of me) and I will be faced with the question "should I help them". While the answer seems obvious, it's not now: it means that due to my parent failure, my children may need to do the same, because I would be wasting my retirement.

I'm still fighting with this,hard to process.

Re: No one wants to have kids anymore

#456

Post by fsflover » Sat, Dec 10, 2022, 3:33 PM UTC

frumper wrote: post #408

fsflover wrote: post #384

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Research assumes a lot of things, like how the future will go. The current expectations are based on many decades of data, when humanity did nothing to stop the climate change. Even starting to act right now will not have quick consequences, and even this is not really happening. Act of God could indeed change that, but I would not rely on it for my plans. > climate change that won't happen anytime soon For you it…

Humanity isn't measured with decades of data. Should I not have kids?

You should take into account the aforementioned problem while you make the decision.

Re: No one wants to have kids anymore

#457

Post by dbspin » Sat, Dec 10, 2022, 9:44 PM UTC

oneoff786 wrote: post #105

dbspin wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Human's at scale are fungible. "Destruction of productive and healthy societies by prolific but unhealthy ones". I hesitate to use the word dog whistle, but this is pretty inarguably racist. Unless you'd like to clarify which 'unhealthy' cultures you're referring to. For many value judgements, the lack of social cohesion, level of violent crime, historically high rates of imprisonment etc make the US an 'unhealthy cu…

They are clearly referring to young people that can work vs old people that need care and cannot work

That's not clear at all.