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Would you ever have children? (pg. 24)
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| tubby |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
I think the way kids turn out has more to do with genes than anything else, assuming the parents don't screw up in a really extreme way (malnourishment, abuse, etc.). |
not read all 7 pages but you really think that much is in the parents genes against how those same parents (in most cases) raise the kid?
i never thought i'd have kids, but at 33 it was the perfect time for me and my mrs, and has proven the right choice for us . and really he's a happy but a little shy kid, just like my wife and I. Is that genes or how we raise him? |
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| Slylee |
genes can and obviously do play a huge role but not always.
you get people who were raised by a raging alcoholic mother and end up being the type of people who hate booze and never touch it.
then you have people who were raised by alcoholics and become alcoholics themselves. it's really just the luck of the draw if you ask me.
i do believe that nurture wins in that argument though. |
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| MrJiveBoJingles |
| quote: | Originally posted by tubby
not read all 7 pages but you really think that much is in the parents genes against how those same parents (in most cases) raise the kid? |
Yes. Studies of twins separated at birth and raised by different parents in different locations show most of them turning out quite similar, everything from weight, activity level, and religiosity to intellectual interests and the type of job they pursue.
Parenting does affect kids to a degree, of course, obviously they need decent parents who care for them and teach them how to act in order to reach their full genetic potential, and abusive or just stupid parents can cripple a kid for life, mentally or physically. Also kids tend to model the behavior of their elders at least until they become teenagers. Adulthood after the kids leave home is when the full force of inheritance becomes apparent. |
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| SYSTEM-J |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
"Evolutionary lag," haha. You could also say women are evolutionary retards for being wired to care for any old infant even if it is not genetically related to them. From a biological viewpoint, why spend your resources on other people's kids? Evolution does not care about your indiscriminate humanitarian compassion.
;) |
With people living longer and longer, and the world's population still rapidly growing, you could call anyone who wanted to sacrifice much of their material income and free time to raising a child a sucker of hardwired behavioural urges. |
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| MrJiveBoJingles |
| quote: | Originally posted by SYSTEM-J
With people living longer and longer, and the world's population still rapidly growing, you could call anyone who wanted to sacrifice much of their material income and free time to raising a child a sucker of hardwired behavioural urges. |
Really depends on whether you think additional free income and time outweigh whatever benefits you think will attend having a child. |
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| Slylee |
| i just have A LOT of love to give, a huge nurturing side to me, and a strong sense of right and wrong/how to raise a child, so it just makes sense for me. |
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| SYSTEM-J |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
Really depends on whether you think additional free income and time outweigh whatever benefits you think will attend having a child. |
Well, there's the thing. Aside from the evolutionary urge to self-perpetuate, what are the advantages of having a child? For most people, it just seems to be a case of satisfying the urge from within - the urge that is almost certainly a product of evolution. |
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| Slylee |
| it's already been mentioned before that it's probably beneficial to have children for when you get older and need care yourself. |
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| MrJiveBoJingles |
| quote: | Originally posted by SYSTEM-J
Well, there's the thing. Aside from the evolutionary urge to self-perpetuate, what are the advantages of having a child? |
Lots really:
1. Company. Someone who will practically never get sick of being around you for the first ten years of their life.
2. Kids are cute and amusing (to most at least).
3. The process of maturation is interesting to watch.
4. Teaching someone things can be very rewarding, and with a kid you have a student who is always around.
5. A renewed sense of curiosity in yourself when the little kid asks you questions all the time.
6. Warm fuzzy biologically-induced feelings when you look at your own offspring.
7. A huge sense of accomplishment when your kid turns into a decent, responsible adult person.
8. Someone to care for you when you are old who just might put more care into it than a random nurse in an old person's home. Also to socialize with when many of your friends have died off.
9. Free meals when you get old and your kids feel obliged to treat you when they visit!
:p |
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| SYSTEM-J |
That's a pretty depressing benefit.
My grandmother is pushing 80, she lives in her own house, socialises several times a week and manages to have more holidays in a year than I've had in my life. Given that my life expectancy is surely far more than hers, I'm hoping for an active old age. |
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| Slylee |
wow i was just channel surfing and stopped on channel E! because i saw half naked chicks. anyway it's the new "girls next door" and the blonde playmate twins were signing autographs and there were actually people in line with their small children to get autographs and pictures with them:wtf:
yea that's a great person you should bring your 10 year old daughter to meet and idolize. in idiots. |
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