Children
Never have Children, only grandchildren.[76]
Life is defined in terms of reproducing organisms. The reproduction of the species is the intrinsic objective of human life and human society. If you are a member of society and do not participate in reproduction you effectively dedicate your life to the children of others (your boss' children the children of those on welfare and so on).
With too many humans on the planet already, not to have children may be a rational decision.
Children are very resource consuming. Not only do they physically consume their mother's resources as infants, they consume family resources until they are able to fend for themselves. People that do decide to have children are committing to twenty to thirty years of reduced income and individual options.
Once children were seen within society variously as: security in old age; a punishment for lust out of marriage; an inevitable outcome of sex in marriage; a source of labour or domestic assistance; a way of keeping property within a family; reliable allies in dealings with other families or the world at large; or a religious or social duty.
Many if not all of these things have changed. Now you can have sex without risking children and many children live half way around the world from their parents. As people live longer, handing over family property to a 60-year-old child seems a bit odd.
Today we respond almost entirely to nature's compensations; children are a source of joy and both an object and a source of love. They can still be a source and object of personal pride and achievement but better still they develop before your eyes as a new complete human being; in turn processing their own experiences and ideas. People in committed relationships are happier than those who are not and there is no more committed relationship than with one's children.
We are programmed by our genes to want children; to enjoy and even need these things. To confirm this, watch a childless person with a pet; in their garden; or in their relationships with others.
Of course by having our own children we are responding to the urge in all animals to hand on the messages contained in our particular genes. But perhaps more importantly, we are handing on the ideas that our children get from us.
If you doubt that in humans genetic and cultural programming extends to passing on ideas, consider that many people are quite content to bring up children who do not have their genes. Others are irate that children with their genes were 'stolen' and brought up in another culture, with the ideas of others.
Childless people are often content that ideas, inventions and discoveries are handed on; that they or their ideas are remembered. Who knows or cares what happened to the children of the greatest artists, composers, writers, architects, scientists, engineers or leaders. Passing on their idea messages can be far more important than passing on their gene messages.