Why Breed. A very personal perspective.

[Iolo asked] I think a more interesting question is to consider that if this is your truth, then what optimism motivated you to recently join the ranks of humans who reproduce?

[Hermit responds]

What an incredibly personal question - and asking me to speak for others too, as I didn't breed alone; while guaranteed to leave an answer that the persistence of the Internet ensures that our offspring will likely have a chance to read irrespective of whether or not it is helpful to them. I'm not even sure that an answer will be helpful to anyone else, as this is undoubtedly an area where everyone needs to find their own answers for for themselves.

However to answer your "charge" of "optimism" with its strong implication of "unjustified," as well as the inherent suggestion of somewhat unethical, hypocritical or at least inconsistent behavior predicated on the dichotomy you think you have identified between thought and breed, I will indeed answer your question as completely as I can.

We discussed the pros and cons as a couple before making the decision to spawn. I don't think that optimism played a significant role in our thinking. Our reasons for spawning were, probably as usual amongst thinking people, multiple and complex, and any explaining them is likely beset by rationalization rather than reason.  However the following factors undoubtedly played significant roles:

While we (couple) are attempting to contribute to solutions, we (couple) won't last forever, and if we (humanity) somehow manage to thread the needle, we (humanity) will still need smart well educated, adaptive people to continue to thrive. We (couple) certainly would expect, and will do our part to ensure so far as possible that our off-spring will be smart, well educated and highly adaptive.

Our (couple) quasi-epicurian philosophy suggests that the chance to live and enjoy life (and nobody can enjoy life better than a child) makes the certainty of sorrow, no matter how intense, bearable.  No matter how unpleasant or painful life becomes, death ends all our tragedies, capping what we have to bear in both duration and intensity. Therefore, if we (family/species) don't survive the converging catastrophes, our (couple) offspring's demise will be just one more minor tragedy played out against a very much larger one; but they will have lived and hopefully enriched the world and themselves through having an opportunity to do so. Not breeding guarantees that none of the potential sorrows may occur, but also absolutely guarantees that none of the benefits occur. Seeking benefits, we (couple) decided that breeding has always made sense, no matter how desperate life may have appeared and even in the absence of forever absent guarantees (consider that our corner of the galaxy could have been and could be sterilized at any time by a sufficiently large neutron burst as but one possibility precluding guarantees) and so continues to make sense, no matter how dismal the outlook.

Ultimately it is enjoyable to help form (and even when not forming them, practicing is fun) and mold a young human, and no matter how selfish a motivation this might be perceived as being, it probably played a not insignificant role in our decision.

A lurking but not articulated consideration may have been that if sufficient smart, educated and adaptive people resist breeding until they have certainty that their offspring could survive then the world would be populated by the unthinking, unwashed masses who would richly deserve the non-future they have made for themselves. Oh! Wait! Isn't that -- to a frighteningly large extent -- what we are seeing? Scary, isn't it. Perhaps the best thing for the planet might be to simply let the steaming masses drown in their own wastes - as they are doing. Is trying to prevent this optimism? We (couple) don't think so. We (couple) think it is a duty we (individuals) owe to ourselves, our families and our species.

Today at least one smart, very beautiful and extremely charming person, filled with the delights of life and love, who refers to herself as a young human, exists; and by her every moment of existence, no matter how tenuous, proves, no matter how unconscious she is of this, that it is possible for humans to live differently than the masses by choosing to live consciously and intentionally. She has experienced no myths, suffered no pretense that make believe is real or that consequences are unrelated to choices. Instead we have identified make believe explicitly since she first drew breath. We have told her when she is doing something silly and observed that hurt often follows bad choices and bad fortune. She has never had to suffer sympathy, but knows that no matter how she is teased (and we do) that there is a well of empathy to draw from at need. The consequence of the mix of the above is that she rejects assertion and asks deep questions about cause and evidence while being able to ignore jabs from others. I am rather hopeful that if she gets a full chance of life that she will live up to the legacy of her namesakes and will make a difference in many lives. I don't think that this hope can realistically be described as optimism. Do you?

Meantime I am certain that she will enjoy many of the wonders that exist for us to explore on the way no matter the paths that she chooses for herself or that are forced on her. Even if she sometimes says "I wish I were dead" she does know that dead is forever and doesn't mean it. But it does mean that she has recognized that it forms a refuge rather than a threat. Wouldn't you agree?

Kind Regards

Hermit

PS I don't call it reproduction as the result is undoubtedly her own person.