IJC “It is also a problem in that the most intelligent find it harder and harder to be heard, you can no longer be known across the board like the geniuses before, simply because of our numbers - which poses a real problem. The intelligent are getting diluted and silenced by the mass of stupid flesh plaguing much of our Earth.”
And precisely who are the intelligent? What qualifies you to make that kind of value assessment?
Intelligent are those who care for themselves, others, and that which they are grounded to. The ability to foresee the destruction of one's own maker [the earth] is a valuable and valid merit of intelligence in my opinion. I would say that a lack of intelligence will directly inhibit your ability to see the consequences of your actions, which you are undoubtebly familiar with, am I right? I feel you are simply argueing with me to knock me down a peg.
IJC “Yet, I still plan to have one child. I see no reason to exist without the possibility of birth.”
So, if that’s true, what would you do if you found out that you could never have children? Commit suicide?
If I found out that I was unable to have a child I would find that my existance would no longer be to produce my child, but rather pass on my teachings from what I would give him/her to others. So I suppose that was a bold statement, but the boldness is still warranted. My child is my child, and from that fact it is obvious that I will have a great amount of time and companionship with him/her; a greater position to learn from them, myself, but also teach in return. The raising of a child is by far, in my opinion, the greatest of learning experiences one can have. Simply viewing cousins and so forth I can become entranced in their learning, their behavior, their psychological reflections. To have a child of my own would be beyond my understanding at this time, and beyond my ability to reproduce I find it an important aspect for my quest for understanding of nature. I hope you can empathize this.
IJC “I have realized I will be increasing the population, but with 1 child to two parents, the net product is a reduction in population - which is a trend in more urban environments (the US population *legal population* is declining).
I don’t see how the almost negligible decline in the urban population of the United States (which is only about 5% of the world population) would have any significant impact on the situation as a whole. Also, even if magically everyone agreed and were to adopt this strategy, the ensuing incremental reduction of the global population would be so gradual as to be meaningless, in view of the current impact that 7 billion people are now having on the environment.
I can't argue with this, and I will say with all honesty and certainty that I will not have any affect either way if I have a child or not on the places of the world that expand their populations exponentially. Do you think that you're absence of a child has somehow slowed the growth rate in China or India? Do you think your passing on of "I havn't have a child - because look at the population" has travelled across continents? I don't see the connection between me having one child and the slowing of populations in china. I'm aware of what I am doing, and will
not have more than one child.
IJC “I have a strong will to have a child of my own, for I believe my genes have something to give to this earth, and are far better suited for the future populations than over 90 percent of our population.”
I think you are confusing strong will with instinct. And this assumption of genetic superiority on your part is founded on what? I’ve seen nothing in your writing that indicates to me superiority of any kind. I’m not saying you’re someone who is below average intelligence, only that you do not seem to me to be of above average intelligence either. Your debating the relative merits of theft, destruction of public property and getting so wasted you slept in human waste (from elsewhere in this forum) at the age of 21 doesn’t exactly bolster your position either when it comes to your genetic suitability being greater than 90% of the rest of the population.
I think we are both intelligent enough to realize what is instinct and what is will. The rest is your opinion, which I am humbly trying to accept. I do not steal anymore. The fact that you cannot discuss what public [or private] property is doesn't seem fair to me, then, to take a stab at it. And I was not wasted when I slept in human shit, I was wasted the night after explaining what had happened. The night before was a night of three paralleled events that made every hotel, motel, and hostel in the city that I was in completely booked that night. I befriended some hitch hikers and they took me to a spot to sleep at 4:30 am in the morning. I was tired and put my sleeping bag down without taking out my flashlight and looking around.
IJC “Ego, perhaps, but if the world was to have those with enough empathy not have their children due to said empathy, the world will eventually be devoid of any empathetical thought, and over run with stupidity and "self-first" attitude. It may be my instinctual mind to reproduce at play here, but I would like to contribute some empathy to the future when I am gone, and holy fuck do I know my genes have plenty of that.”
I’m pretty sure at this point that increasing the quality and quantity of empathy in the world will not be accomplished by passing on “empathy genes”, if there is such a thing. Also, on what do you base that statement? From what I’ve seen up to this point in my experience, no matter what your genetic makeup is, when you have a child you are just as likely to end up with a serial killer as you are to end up with a saint. So, the idea that your genes are somehow bursting with empathy is just plain ridiculous.
I don't think you understand genes, or the nature nurture principle. There is no such thing as a empathy gene or genes, and empathy itself is not directly genetic, however, I believe, due to my family history, that I have a good chance of passing on empathy onto my children. I think you may understand this with the comparison to you and your mother being druids. Sure you do not have a "druid" gene [OR MAYBE YOU DO!] but you certainly had a greater chance, genetically, to bestow the ability and logic to discover, understand, and undertake such a label. In no way were you predetermined (without going into a talk about determinism) to becoming a druid simply from your mothers genes alone, but the combination of her acquired experience, your genes, and the raising you were subjected to certainly does.
I think that is a discussion for another thread, though. I don't see why your tone has changed from previous threads to what it is now pertaining to population and my possibly future children, but I don't like it
