It's also the optimal age to have children. Fertility is highest, the woman is likely healthy and strong, lowest risk of complications.
It's also the optimal age to have children. Fertility is highest, the woman is likely healthy and strong, lowest risk of complications.
It's also the optimal age to not have children! You're still figuring out your life, probably no stable partner or job, time to do some stuff you'll regret later, etc.
Yes, I was only speaking biologically.
"Figuring out your life" was not a thing when humans evolved.
nah you're only speaking out of your ass
Biological optimal vs societal optimal.
I would reframe it from
> Biological optimal vs societal optimal
to
> Biological optimal vs personal optimal
"Societal optimal" should really include consideration of whether that society can sustain itself.
Sure, but should "societal optimal" be a concern for the individual? I think not. Government economists, maybe.
Rejecting any care or duty towards one's own society is a very modern, very extreme viewpoint. And I don't think it bodes well for societies where it prevails.
Just like every person dies, so does every society (no matter where you draw the lines around it). We can't justify what we do solely based on survival. What's worth doing has to be worth doing for its own sake, here and now. That we are around to do things in the future, doesn't matter if nothing is worth doing.
Put in a catchier way, if nothing is worth dying for, then nothing is worth living for either.
I think you'll find this is a very old viewpoint. As is the smear that we reject any care or duty for society. "This may seem harsh and stubborn and unconciliatory; but it is to treat with the utmost kindness and consideration the only spirit that can appreciate or deserves it."
Aside from the part where you have to raise them, sure.
If everyone had kids at 18-20, then the grandparents could take care of the grandkids while in their 40s while the parents build their careers from 20-40, then start taking care of the grandkids as the cycle repeats
And then you end up raising your grandkids instead of the kids you gave birth to. It's not something that comes without cost. And what if you don't particularly trust your parents to raise kids? I suppose you would have no idea whether you did or not, because they would not have parented you...
Peoples 40s and 50s are their most productive years. We would be better off just letting people take 10 years off in their twenties - but most people would just party party party (what they do anyway)
Given two parents, there are four grandparents. Sharing the load across six people is much better than sharing between two.
Those four grandparents could end up with anywhere from 1-8+ grandkids though, depending on how many children they had, and how many grandchildren come along
have you heard of people not surviving into old age, or not being present or not being able to take care of kids? What the fuck is wrong with people in this comment section?
> have you heard of people not surviving into old age
not really, overall the life expectancy is growing well over 80 years old. unless you live, like, in the woods and feed off berries and hunting or something like that.
and yeah sure there might be somebody that loses their parents at 15, absolutely. i'm sorry for them, but they are not statistically representative in any way.
ladies and gentlemen, the fucking state of hn.
grounded in reality you mean?
It really seems you have no idea what you’re talking about.
I have a couple of friends married for about 4-5 years, with a 4-years old son and a one year old daughter. They both have graduate degrees and stable jobs. They are near 40 years old.
Man, they are two zombies. They are drained. They push forward for the immense love of their kids but it’s incredibly evident they’re drained.
And the thing is… having kids at almost 40 should really be discouraged. They simply don’t have the same energy they had when they were 20, of course. Heck, i’m 33 and it’s evident to me I don’t have the same energy as when I was 23.
This modern idea that one should postpone having kids is incredibly stupid, I hope at some point society will self-correct somehow.
ya’ll are talking about 2 separate extremes. Of course each extreme has its own set of cons. Hardly surprising.
At the end of the day it’s a moot point. You can’t pick when you find love and a suitable partner. :)
> You can’t pick when you find love and a suitable partner. :)
that's a moot point as well.
people find suitable partners all the time, but they don't even take having kids in consideration before a certain age