What motivates someone to have children?

Post Reply New Topic

John C. Wright put it best on the "oblivion" outcome:

If oblivion is our fate, there is neither hope nor justice in this world, for every suicide bomber, or successful criminal, or bloodthirsty tyrant, who died comfortably in bed mocks even the idea of a just retribution.

Justice is not even possible, for if the victim of murder cannot be made to live again, then the injustice of murder is as infinite as the span of nonexistence into which the murderer plunges his victim. The murderer himself, when he dies, whether on the scaffold or comfortably in bed, is placed in the same dreamless oblivion as his victim, as all heroes, no matter how heroic, as all villains, no matter how wretched, as selfless saints and sadistic madmen, all, all, all come to nothing in the end.

In this worldview, all human fears and ambitions and hopes and wars and commotions come to nothing and mean nothing. Life is hopeless, and the best one can hope for is a certain small amount of personal comfort and selfish pleasure, a love affair or a family or money or fame, and then everything is swallowed by the dragon of nothingness.

Surely a strange fate to desire...

It would be nice if Heaven was revealed to me on my deathbed.

You either have a very high income or live where the cost of living is dirt cheap to be able to feed and clothe 5 kids these days.

Where I live, a lot of people relocated in order to start a family & have their 1 or 2 kids. I'm 1 of 4 siblings, but I can't think of any young families I know that have 4 or more kids - most that have kids are 1, maybe 2, and a whole ton of young adults opt to simply not have any at all because the cost of housing/clothing/feeding a kid is out of reach.

I would be barely able to handle one, no less five or more children.

That's why I stopped at one. I got guilt-tripped a lot for it, but I was so terrified of doubling my trouble that it didn't work on me.

No? Alright, how about now?





To quote Arm Seat Headrest...





For context, the latter song is about asexuality.

OK, alright, in all seriousness - I understand that it's a major factor. Still, I wanted to explore the philosophical and psychological aspect of why someone might want children - aside from instinct. Not all of us have that instinct, or possess it in unexpected places, yet still go on to have children.

There's definitely something interesting about Cupid being associated with valentines day. Despite being named after St Valentine, the day itself by far has much more imagery associated with Eros / Cupid. Yet the stories which feature such a character often end in tragedy. Usually featuring people who have been driven mad. Versions of the Greek myth differ, some have Eros being born at the beginning of time, whereas other versions have him as the son of Aphrodite (the goddess of love) and Ares (the god of war). I personally prefer the latter interpretation, as I think that it makes a great deal of sense - being a combination of love and war would explain the arrows.

There are some myths where he has two types of arrows, one to cause physical attraction / infatuation / obsession and the other causes hatred. He's often described as a monster. In some myths, Aphrodite sends him on missions to gain revenge because she doesn't want to deal with it herself. There are some differences between the Greek version (Eros) and the later rebranded Roman version (Cupid) but the themes remain fairly consistent. He was thought of as the god of physical attraction and sexual desire. Yet his symbolism, the arrow through the heart, is the one that remains rather than Aphrodite. Although it is said that the symbol for the female sex is likely based on the mirror of Aphrodite, so in a way it does live on - just in a more subtle way.

I've always thought Freya from Norse mythology was cool. A goddess of love, fertility, battle, and death. It's interesting how a fair amount of cultures seem to pair love and death together.

"Death" is an aphrodisiac, I have heard.
"Necrophilia" anyone?
Guaranteed to be "Safe Sex" in terms of no reproduction.

Presumably, because procreation is the closest thing to immortality achievable, the desire to copulate is enhanced in some situations.
If a planet-killing asteroid is destined to hit the earth, expect a lot of bonking beforehand.

I can't look after myself properly, let alone a child.

You might want to scramble back to full health. EEP!

Let's face it.
Naughty is better than nice, right?

Hitler and Stalin are laughing in their graves.

Mikah wrote:

You have difficulty with the concept of "Opinions".
Just because someone has a particular view on something doesn't mean everyone sees things the same way.

While I don't disagree with what is said above, hence part of the obscenity of life, my focus is on the freedom achieved from an atrocious life system that we have all been forced to enter while kicking and screaming.

Where does it say The Truth has to be pretty?
The Truth is the Truth no matter what you would prefer it to be.

^ We've had this conversation before. I don't believe you ever understood what I was saying about this, although your fellow atheists in that thread a few years ago understood it.

You do not have The Truth, your truth is as untestable as mine in this life.

It doesn't have to be pretty. But as I just said, you do not have The Truth. You have a desire and you've made a choice. You desire oblivion, as I desire anything but oblivion. The interesting question is why.

Oblivion is…..oblivious!

I did not give permission to be hijacked/conscripted into this life system.
I was not given the choice.
Is this not an unassailable Truth?



You pooped on my "desire".
The interesting question is why.

The Truth is, this life system is an abomination, IMO.
I am making the best of things...
But I ain't coming back, and that's the Truth, my puppy dog's tooth.

ETERNAL PEACE!
THAT is my heaven!

That wasn't what I was referring to, but an interesting question nonetheless. The answer is no, that is also not unassailable Truth. You may have had a choice and forgotten you made it.

As did everyone else that has ever been, is in existence, and will be?
Does one not need a functional brain to make a choice?
At the point of conception, this was missing, or am I missing something, pun intended?

How can you expect me to take you seriously when you say something like that?
How can ANY rational person take what you said seriously?
I think it is time to bring out, you guessed it, "Let us agree to disagree".
Have a nice day.