71–80 of 339 posts
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Ha. Can't wait for your [future] kids to discover your post on HN, 15 years from now, and give you a hard time about it.
Whow, are you arrogant. Can you even contemplate somebody who doesn't want to have children?
Can you contemplate that if you are having heterosexual/breeder sex, you may have children even if you never planned to?
It pays to become an expert in your own (or your family members') medical conditions, because you'll quickly become more of an expert than 99% of the doctors you will rely on for care. It helps when they all ask the same dumb questions, which they will do. If your condition is mildly rare, you'll notice when you see a new doctor, that their knowledge will be limited to what you found out in the first hour of internet…
Most doctors quickly realize that they're outgunned when my wife and I start talking about our son.
We have a lot more luck with PhDs than MDs.
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> Marriage is about compromise. ... > Children, however, afford no such privilege. Well, at least you're 50% there. Don't compromise with your wife, either. Lead your wife and children to a better place. Lead them to a place where all of you are happy and yes, it is possible. It's very easy to "compromise" ... just divide by two, right? Much harder to use your noggin and figure out a position where everybody is genui…
I believe the intended meaning of compromise with regards to marriage is about not always getting "your way."
You should lead them there.
When a mutation occurs, there are four possibilities for
the mutant...
You could say there's three types of mutations: genes that do not affect evolutionary fitness, genes that increase fitness (faster running, better eyesight, etc) and genes that decrease fitness. (chromosomal trisomy, which either instantly kills the host, or greatly reduce its fitness)
And, of course, fitness is relative. Heterozygous HbgS makes you resistant to malaria, homozygous HbgS gives you sickle cell anemia. Being tall adds fitness in a calorie-rich environment, but reduces it when food is comparatively expensive. Etc etc etc.
But you probably won't want to double the length of the article, by going into even greater depth on genetics.
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All your accomplishments are pointless without your child next to you. You enjoy all of those things to gain the capacity to enrich the life of your child. I'm unconvinced. There are many worthy things in life; children among them. Doesn't mean your life is worthless if you don't have them.
Agreed. Saying children are not worth it is an extreme position, but saying that life is pointless without children is perhaps even more extreme. It's like saying life is pointless without a wife, or without God.
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Sorry, not worth it at all. Years 1-10 - you will loose all your time - cleaning diapers, making the child eat, making it study, teaching it values - waking up at night - and doing a lot of things for it. Yes you'll see it learn, smile, grow up and you're genetically conditioned to like it. But you will not be able to play your games, go to your parties - read book or contemplate on life, or code without expecting in…
You either don't have kids or you're a psychopath. I'm leaning toward the former. Don't presume in your arrogance that you know quite a bit about something you have zero experience with. All your accomplishments are pointless without your child next to you. > Yes you'll see it learn, smile, grow up It? Nice. > But you will not be able to play your games, go to your parties - read book or contemplate on life, or code…
altrego99 is expressing a considered personal view with which you disagree, not insulting you or the mass of humanity. You are entitled to your personal view as well. But you could recognize consideration of the issue as a good thing and the disagreement as normal and healthy. Instead, you are calling people terrible names and picking on grammar, without provocation. Please don't continue in that vein.
I think for most people, you are right that having a kid is a fulfilling thing. I am personally glad that someone is having kids (particularly if they are doing a good and thoughtful job of caring for them). But the implication that no one with kids could ever disagree with you is not correct - though it is unlikely that they will bother to do so in public. I have talked to several people who do regret having kids (particularly in a certain time or situation) but they are not so likely to say it - both because of the kind of aggressive reply you have given but maybe also because they are likely to be wrongly taken as saying that they do not love their children, or that they wish the child did not exist. A person can believe that having kids is not necessarily altruistic, or that there is no moral or practical imperative to have kids, without being an awful arrogant psychopath.
Before you have a child, there is no child to wish the nonexistence of. And since it is an irreversible long-term decision, you should definitely think about the pros and cons in a rational way. Many people do come to parenthood by a reasonable, conscious choice and that is a blessing. Other people decide not to. If that is in their best interests then good for them. Perhaps there will be a future time where it does make sense to have kids. Leave them be. It's a personal decision, not a moral necessity.
Not everyone has to get married, either; not getting married doesn't make you a psychopath or a pathetic unfulfilled person, even if it's a nice thing and a great life work for many people.
As a father with a son with severe autism (not to suggest it's equivalent to Bertrand's condition), there is an important lesson here that might not be apparent at first read. Before you have children, understand that it's for the rest of your life. Really understand the impact. Your concerns are second, beyond anything you've ever understood. Marriage is about compromise. Children, however, afford no such privilege.…
It is only 'worth it' because your genes needs you to protect the next generation. Rationally there is no point in having children at all. And speaking statistically, research shows that parents are no more happy than are those who are not parents.
[citation needed]
Also, since we're being rational and all, define happiness. Contrast it with "fulfillment".
It's amazing that you were able to learn so much about his condition. It gives me hope for the future of medicine, because I sometimes feel like we are still in the dark ages.
I hope you have success with the treatments.
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Well, once you pinpoint a potential mutation on a gene - that gives you a starting point into the pathway that could be possibly producing this particular disease. From there, it's sort of like clicking outwards from a wikipedia page, except instead of wiki pages, its related genes. Every one you go to, you read and find out what people know about it. You then start to form a picture in your head as to what the mecha…
What can be done to speed this process up? What parts can be automated? Is the process for every gene unique or can some steps be factored out?