If children were brought into the world by an act of pure reason alone, would the human race continue to exist? Would not a man rather have so much sympathy with the coming generation as to spare it the burden of existence? or at any rate not take it upon himself to impose that burden upon it in cold blood.
Arthur Schopenhauer
6 Comments
Loved the quote. Leads you to other philosophies you hadn’t taken a look at. Enjoy the website. I think we should license breeding…for people that is. We have to have a license to do just about anything in life, why not procreation?
Well, licensing would certainly be a start!
Thanks for visiting, John; and for your comment. Drop by any time!
John you are so right. We need a license for damn near everything else we do, why not the most important/monumental thing?!
I believe at the very least parents-to-be should be required to take early childhood development, basic neurology, and a general psychology course. Maybe some type of standardized test which would allow them to demonstrate their knowledge of the MANY parenting styles that exist. I don’t think child rearing is an area where you want to wing it. Of course you can’t completely control everything, but you should have a general idea about what you hope to accomplish and how you’d like to go about it.
Another thing, we really need to change the terminology. “Having a baby” is too cutesy and they don’t stay babies! It completely trivializes the whole thing. It should be referred to as exactly what it is – CREATING A NEW PERSON.
“Reggie and I have decided to have a baby” vs. ”Reggie and I have decided to create a new person.”
Which one sounds more serious?
I like your point about the terminology, Sunday’s. We so often use euphemistic language in our efforts to subtly obfuscate what we’re really talking about. IMO, it’s all about evading the hard truths inherent in the choices we make.
Thanks for the clarity.
“… have decided to create a new person.” What an excellent, excellent point. An immeasurably more truthful representation of what is being contemplated.
“creating a new person” vs. “having a baby” makes a difference, but i think referring to it as “creating another person” may even be more honest, since what really is “new” about people?