wedrifid comments on Our House, My Rules - Less Wrong

36 Post author: David_J_Balan 02 November 2009 12:44AM

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Comment author: wedrifid 02 November 2009 10:02:04AM 5 points [-]

Child birth.

Comment author: DanArmak 02 November 2009 10:07:02AM 2 points [-]

Can you substantiate the claim that giving birth is a sacrifice made for the child as opposed to for the future good of the mother herself?

In general I find it hard to believe that people would choose to become parents for the sake of a potential child, who will only exist because they decide so, unless they expect to enjoy raising a child at least some of the time, or otherwise profit from it (social approval, commitment between married partners, support in old age, government aid).

Comment author: Technologos 02 November 2009 10:08:58AM 7 points [-]

Are any sacrifices provably made "for the recipient" rather than "because the sacrificer gains some (intangible) value from having made it?"

Comment author: DanArmak 02 November 2009 10:20:18AM 2 points [-]

Point taken, it may be too fuzzy a term to distinguish.

Comment author: wedrifid 02 November 2009 10:24:38AM 1 point [-]

In general I find it hard to believe that people would choose to become parents for the sake of a potential child, who will only exist because they decide so

I'm sure many of the siblings of our ancestors chose otherwise. But I'd be surprised if that choice stayed popular.

unless they expect to enjoy raising a child at least some of the time, or otherwise profit from it (social approval, commitment between married partners, support in old age, government aid).

Those reasons help. But our instincts give an extra boost when it comes to both expecting and remembering.