Anyone feel guilty for having kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not at all. The world is so much better now than it was in the past.

This. I’m amazed at how ignorant of history people are when they think this is some uniquely awful time to be alive. What time do y’all think was so great if you’re that concerned about the future?

NP. I don’t think people are worried about it in terms of historical events. I don’t see the past through rose colored glasses. It sucked for a lot of people. But—global warming is most definitely an issue and I think so many (intelligent not just climate change deniers) have their heads in the sand. Political or social conflict is one thing. Crop failures, warming oceans, natural disasters (on a different scale), water shortages, etc are a different beast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a research scientist No, Earth is not dying. Species will be replaced.

It's humans, specifically, that have a problem, because temperature increases and extreme flood/drought events across the world destabilize societies and force people to migrate for food, water and jobs, causing conflict around the world. We are not food-secure as a species if all the agricultural changes due to global warming come to pass.

However humans are incredibly inventive beings and will think of effective solutions, just as they've thought of them in the past.

Just because the world is changing fast, doesn't mean it's changing for the worst, even though that's what the media wants you to think! Bad news sells more than good news.

The good news is that we have made rapid medical advances and have treatments of cancers and others diseases that prolong survival. People around the globe don't suffer as much from preventable illnesses and the global standard of living has gone up dramatically compared to 50 years ago. We tend not to notice in our wealthy neck of the woods, but most third world countries which were constantly on the brink of famine in the 20th century, with extremely low standards of living (high infant and maternal mortality, no electricity, safe water access, or family planning) now power their life with solar panels that increase water access (wells powered by solar electricity), education level (more light to teach/read), and medical care.

We need to navigate the choppy waters ahead, but the reality is that humans are better off now than they ever were before. We need to keep that going despite forced migration, changing agricultural paradigms, and urban overheating.

Why do you think climate/environmental scientists, in particular, are sounding all sorts of alarms? They do not seem as optimistic as you PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a research scientist No, Earth is not dying. Species will be replaced.

It's humans, specifically, that have a problem, because temperature increases and extreme flood/drought events across the world destabilize societies and force people to migrate for food, water and jobs, causing conflict around the world. We are not food-secure as a species if all the agricultural changes due to global warming come to pass.

However humans are incredibly inventive beings and will think of effective solutions, just as they've thought of them in the past.

Just because the world is changing fast, doesn't mean it's changing for the worst, even though that's what the media wants you to think! Bad news sells more than good news.

The good news is that we have made rapid medical advances and have treatments of cancers and others diseases that prolong survival. People around the globe don't suffer as much from preventable illnesses and the global standard of living has gone up dramatically compared to 50 years ago. We tend not to notice in our wealthy neck of the woods, but most third world countries which were constantly on the brink of famine in the 20th century, with extremely low standards of living (high infant and maternal mortality, no electricity, safe water access, or family planning) now power their life with solar panels that increase water access (wells powered by solar electricity), education level (more light to teach/read), and medical care.

We need to navigate the choppy waters ahead, but the reality is that humans are better off now than they ever were before. We need to keep that going despite forced migration, changing agricultural paradigms, and urban overheating.

Thank you to PP for spelling this out. I agree. Our current era is troubled but we have come so far in the last few hundred years. Have faith that humanity can course correct. People already live in all kinds of extreme environments from snow-filled to desert. We will be able to adapt.

I’m not trying to be mean but don’t you think you are saying this from a place of privilege/because climate change hasn’t impacted you and yours yet? Read the news. It’s already having devastating impact in other places. Wet bulb temps/deaths related to heat, cities with water shortages, communities whose source of food/livelihood have been destroyed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a research scientist No, Earth is not dying. Species will be replaced.

It's humans, specifically, that have a problem, because temperature increases and extreme flood/drought events across the world destabilize societies and force people to migrate for food, water and jobs, causing conflict around the world. We are not food-secure as a species if all the agricultural changes due to global warming come to pass.

However humans are incredibly inventive beings and will think of effective solutions, just as they've thought of them in the past.

Just because the world is changing fast, doesn't mean it's changing for the worst, even though that's what the media wants you to think! Bad news sells more than good news.

The good news is that we have made rapid medical advances and have treatments of cancers and others diseases that prolong survival. People around the globe don't suffer as much from preventable illnesses and the global standard of living has gone up dramatically compared to 50 years ago. We tend not to notice in our wealthy neck of the woods, but most third world countries which were constantly on the brink of famine in the 20th century, with extremely low standards of living (high infant and maternal mortality, no electricity, safe water access, or family planning) now power their life with solar panels that increase water access (wells powered by solar electricity), education level (more light to teach/read), and medical care.

We need to navigate the choppy waters ahead, but the reality is that humans are better off now than they ever were before. We need to keep that going despite forced migration, changing agricultural paradigms, and urban overheating.

Thank you to PP for spelling this out. I agree. Our current era is troubled but we have come so far in the last few hundred years. Have faith that humanity can course correct. People already live in all kinds of extreme environments from snow-filled to desert. We will be able to adapt.

I’m not trying to be mean but don’t you think you are saying this from a place of privilege/because climate change hasn’t impacted you and yours yet? Read the news. It’s already having devastating impact in other places. Wet bulb temps/deaths related to heat, cities with water shortages, communities whose source of food/livelihood have been destroyed.

Exactly- the poor in developing countries are first to feel the pain of climate change even though we in the developed world have caused nearly all of the problems of speeding temperature rise. Crops are failing people are dying people are migrating or staying home and burning and drowning and dying of heat in extreme weather events.

I didn’t intend not to have children, but it worked out that way. I spent a lot of years regretting and sad but feel less so as I see the natural world deteriorating all around me - not just the Amazon and the ice caps but also the never ending buildup all around me in my own neighborhood while everything nature is getting squeezed. There are less than half as many animals on earth today as there were the year I was born - but there are 4x as many humans. How can that possibly be good? We are invasive and destructive and the epidemic of mental illness in our societies is clearly more than any other thing caused by our disconnection from nature, of which we are intended to be a part, and not apart from.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a research scientist No, Earth is not dying. Species will be replaced.

It's humans, specifically, that have a problem, because temperature increases and extreme flood/drought events across the world destabilize societies and force people to migrate for food, water and jobs, causing conflict around the world. We are not food-secure as a species if all the agricultural changes due to global warming come to pass.

However humans are incredibly inventive beings and will think of effective solutions, just as they've thought of them in the past.

Just because the world is changing fast, doesn't mean it's changing for the worst, even though that's what the media wants you to think! Bad news sells more than good news.

The good news is that we have made rapid medical advances and have treatments of cancers and others diseases that prolong survival. People around the globe don't suffer as much from preventable illnesses and the global standard of living has gone up dramatically compared to 50 years ago. We tend not to notice in our wealthy neck of the woods, but most third world countries which were constantly on the brink of famine in the 20th century, with extremely low standards of living (high infant and maternal mortality, no electricity, safe water access, or family planning) now power their life with solar panels that increase water access (wells powered by solar electricity), education level (more light to teach/read), and medical care.

We need to navigate the choppy waters ahead, but the reality is that humans are better off now than they ever were before. We need to keep that going despite forced migration, changing agricultural paradigms, and urban overheating.

Why do you think climate/environmental scientists, in particular, are sounding all sorts of alarms? They do not seem as optimistic as you PP.

so they can continue to get government funding and have a job

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a research scientist No, Earth is not dying. Species will be replaced.

It's humans, specifically, that have a problem, because temperature increases and extreme flood/drought events across the world destabilize societies and force people to migrate for food, water and jobs, causing conflict around the world. We are not food-secure as a species if all the agricultural changes due to global warming come to pass.

However humans are incredibly inventive beings and will think of effective solutions, just as they've thought of them in the past.

Just because the world is changing fast, doesn't mean it's changing for the worst, even though that's what the media wants you to think! Bad news sells more than good news.

The good news is that we have made rapid medical advances and have treatments of cancers and others diseases that prolong survival. People around the globe don't suffer as much from preventable illnesses and the global standard of living has gone up dramatically compared to 50 years ago. We tend not to notice in our wealthy neck of the woods, but most third world countries which were constantly on the brink of famine in the 20th century, with extremely low standards of living (high infant and maternal mortality, no electricity, safe water access, or family planning) now power their life with solar panels that increase water access (wells powered by solar electricity), education level (more light to teach/read), and medical care.

We need to navigate the choppy waters ahead, but the reality is that humans are better off now than they ever were before. We need to keep that going despite forced migration, changing agricultural paradigms, and urban overheating.

Thank you to PP for spelling this out. I agree. Our current era is troubled but we have come so far in the last few hundred years. Have faith that humanity can course correct. People already live in all kinds of extreme environments from snow-filled to desert. We will be able to adapt.

I’m not trying to be mean but don’t you think you are saying this from a place of privilege/because climate change hasn’t impacted you and yours yet? Read the news. It’s already having devastating impact in other places. Wet bulb temps/deaths related to heat, cities with water shortages, communities whose source of food/livelihood have been destroyed.

Exactly- the poor in developing countries are first to feel the pain of climate change even though we in the developed world have caused nearly all of the problems of speeding temperature rise. Crops are failing people are dying people are migrating or staying home and burning and drowning and dying of heat in extreme weather events.

I didn’t intend not to have children, but it worked out that way. I spent a lot of years regretting and sad but feel less so as I see the natural world deteriorating all around me - not just the Amazon and the ice caps but also the never ending buildup all around me in my own neighborhood while everything nature is getting squeezed. There are less than half as many animals on earth today as there were the year I was born - but there are 4x as many humans. How can that possibly be good? We are invasive and destructive and the epidemic of mental illness in our societies is clearly more than any other thing caused by our disconnection from nature, of which we are intended to be a part, and not apart from.

so if the problem is too many people are causing world conditions that will cause the death of too many people...it sounds like it is a self correcting problem

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a research scientist No, Earth is not dying. Species will be replaced.

It's humans, specifically, that have a problem, because temperature increases and extreme flood/drought events across the world destabilize societies and force people to migrate for food, water and jobs, causing conflict around the world. We are not food-secure as a species if all the agricultural changes due to global warming come to pass.

However humans are incredibly inventive beings and will think of effective solutions, just as they've thought of them in the past.

Just because the world is changing fast, doesn't mean it's changing for the worst, even though that's what the media wants you to think! Bad news sells more than good news.

The good news is that we have made rapid medical advances and have treatments of cancers and others diseases that prolong survival. People around the globe don't suffer as much from preventable illnesses and the global standard of living has gone up dramatically compared to 50 years ago. We tend not to notice in our wealthy neck of the woods, but most third world countries which were constantly on the brink of famine in the 20th century, with extremely low standards of living (high infant and maternal mortality, no electricity, safe water access, or family planning) now power their life with solar panels that increase water access (wells powered by solar electricity), education level (more light to teach/read), and medical care.

We need to navigate the choppy waters ahead, but the reality is that humans are better off now than they ever were before. We need to keep that going despite forced migration, changing agricultural paradigms, and urban overheating.

Thank you to PP for spelling this out. I agree. Our current era is troubled but we have come so far in the last few hundred years. Have faith that humanity can course correct. People already live in all kinds of extreme environments from snow-filled to desert. We will be able to adapt.

I’m not trying to be mean but don’t you think you are saying this from a place of privilege/because climate change hasn’t impacted you and yours yet? Read the news. It’s already having devastating impact in other places. Wet bulb temps/deaths related to heat, cities with water shortages, communities whose source of food/livelihood have been destroyed.

Exactly- the poor in developing countries are first to feel the pain of climate change even though we in the developed world have caused nearly all of the problems of speeding temperature rise. Crops are failing people are dying people are migrating or staying home and burning and drowning and dying of heat in extreme weather events.

I didn’t intend not to have children, but it worked out that way. I spent a lot of years regretting and sad but feel less so as I see the natural world deteriorating all around me - not just the Amazon and the ice caps but also the never ending buildup all around me in my own neighborhood while everything nature is getting squeezed. There are less than half as many animals on earth today as there were the year I was born - but there are 4x as many humans. How can that possibly be good? We are invasive and destructive and the epidemic of mental illness in our societies is clearly more than any other thing caused by our disconnection from nature, of which we are intended to be a part, and not apart from.

so if the problem is too many people are causing world conditions that will cause the death of too many people...it sounds like it is a self correcting problem

of course! IDK what the OP thinks his purpose on this planet is, or rather the purpose of life, but I say this as a Catholic, life is hedonistic in the sense of, enjoy it while you're here. Do what makes you happy. You are not so all important that anyone else can't do what you do. so guess what, you aren't important to the equation. Even Einstein is overrated (think F=ma is equiv to E=mc^2). I'm sorry that you don't enjoy your children as I love mine to the umpteeenth, and that makes me happy. Enjoy this ride while you are here.

[Anonymous]

Not guilty, but I could have easily gone without them.
I told my boys that they don't have to have kids. I told them what kids will do to them and their time.

[Anonymous]

No. People who actually care about the planet (and science and facts) should have kids, otherwise we’ll be overrun with MAGA

[Anonymous]

Frankly the earth needs to have a human culling and that is what catastrophic climate change will bring. Humans will survive but in far fewer numbers and with a reset to the natural world, and that’s okay. Invasive and destructive species can only thrive for a short time before they exhaust the carrying capacity of the ecosystem and that is what is happening in the near future of the earth.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/08/world-scientists-climate-failure-survey-global-temperature

I couldn’t make a good faith argument that the present condition of humanity represents a pinnacle or ideal of existence - in many ways things are much better for humans today than ever before, I concede that point, but that’s not saying much. Human society is still violent and cruel and greatly lacking in social/economic justice. Hopefully as our species struggles through the great upheavals that catastrophic climate change will bring, we will reshape our existence into something more resembling a humane world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not guilty, but I could have easily gone without them.
I told my boys that they don't have to have kids. I told them what kids will do to them and their time.

How did that conversation unfold and how do you think it made them feel?

[Anonymous]

Just because we are not in the dark ages anymore, it does not mean that we have to rejoice.

Life on earth is a hell for millions, and I hope my kids do not become part of that statistic.

So yes, I regret and worry about the future they will have. Not specifically due to any single catastrophe, but just the randomness of it all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Frankly the earth needs to have a human culling and that is what catastrophic climate change will bring. Humans will survive but in far fewer numbers and with a reset to the natural world, and that’s okay. Invasive and destructive species can only thrive for a short time before they exhaust the carrying capacity of the ecosystem and that is what is happening in the near future of the earth.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/08/world-scientists-climate-failure-survey-global-temperature

I couldn’t make a good faith argument that the present condition of humanity represents a pinnacle or ideal of existence - in many ways things are much better for humans today than ever before, I concede that point, but that’s not saying much. Human society is still violent and cruel and greatly lacking in social/economic justice. Hopefully as our species struggles through the great upheavals that catastrophic climate change will bring, we will reshape our existence into something more resembling a humane world.

Another Guardian article. Climate scientists feel hopeless about the future.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/nginteractive/2024/may/08/hopeless-and-broken-why-the-worlds-top-climate-scientists-are-in-despair

[Anonymous]

I think my 14 year old son is correct when he says he's optimistic about the future from the context that humans have been around for a hell of a long time. We got through the Plague, Dark Ages and all kinds of messes and we're still here. Things evolve and while it may not be as easy or fun or what we hope it was. our kids will live their own ways in the environment they have. Who knows? Maybe in order to survive, we find a new paradigm of living that is even better than what we knew?! I don't think you should feel guilty. I think you should pray and hope as hard as you can that your kids will be grateful for the opportunity ti live because we all need that kind of luck moving forward . But it's possible to thrive for sure!

[Anonymous]

^ PS I ageee with the PP about the culling of humans and a reboot. But the point is that humans will make it. Every civilization has gone through death only for a new one to rise. In that way, I agree we're headed for extinction but in the sense that there's always hope, I'm optimistic that there will be a way to develop a system that can be easier to live in.