When I was growing up I suppose naturally I thought I might quite like to have a wife
and then eventually children. I was raised in a traditional family with my mother, father and,
I had one sister. And it was this exact family arrangement that I then felt was best. I probably
just wanted what I personally knew and was already comfortable with. As I entered my teenage years
I became much more aware of the problems of this world and it seemed like my decision about having
children could impact the amount of happiness in this world. The first thing that changed was
that I started to think that when I was older I might adopt a child. I remember seeing all those
intense charity ads on television that seemed to suggest that adopting a child was the same
as saving a child. So, I thought, if I'm to have children I might as well adopt. But then
I kept learning about the problems of the world. I learned about the disastrous state and impending
cataclysm of the environment, pollution, the ozone layer, cutting down the rainforest, critically
endangered animals, climate, "overpopulation..." People seem to be the problem. There are a few
statistics which suggest that as life quality and health quality improve out of poverty,
that people have less children. But in general it's fair to say that in my adolescent years I
was becoming more cynical about life. Honestly when I was probably 16 to 23 I experienced the
most dramatic time of my mental health. There were a lot of things at play but during this time I was
questioning my own quality of life and, whether or not it was worth living. I don't think we want to
bring children into the world whose lives on the whole, by whatever metrics we do end up using,
aren't worth living. It would be pretty horrible to do that. To have a child suspecting that
it will suffer. And because of how sad that predicament is, which does occur today, I think
it's very important that we think very seriously about whether or not we should have a child;
and whether it's fair for us to have a child. I suspect that it's the lack of thinking about it,
that fairly justifies a lot of anti-natalist angst. My parents certainly put more thought
into buying their house then what it means to create two living, conscious, breathing, feeling,
existing, sensing beings and; how they would raise those children to do well and be happy. So my big
questions have been things like: Should you have a child? When is it fear to have a child? Do I even
want the ways in which a child will thoroughly transform my life? What makes a good life for
a child? How good should a human's life be for it to have been worthwhile? I believe that exploring
and actualizing the positive potential of my actions creates a happier world. And I believe
bringing a person into this world needs to be a conscious and thought through decision because I
don't believe a parent's job is to only create the person. I think it's reasonable to suggest parents
have a tremendous opportunity to impact the entire quality of the human's life they chose to create.
And today I think life can be worthwhile and I believe we want a future with humans in it. And
I believe it is possible to be a good parent. A section of the universe without consciousness
is as good as not existing. A section of the universe with consciousness in it is full of
experiences and meaning. So I would rather a future where the light of consciousness was on
than off. The cognitive ability of dinosaurs in the bigger scheme of things meant that
they were likely to fail, as they did. Humans, although it's not looking promising sometimes,
if not for self-inflicted destruction they may be able to avoid the likely known naturally occurring
mass extinction causes. If this is the case the future possibly contains unimaginable sorts of
wonder and amounts of good. If we can do something to realize that reality, we should. Not everyone
today is best suited to have a child but some people today are. I think, I personally could
become one of these people. I think I have the awareness, empathy and intelligence to probably
raise a flourishing child. I also think that I would need more preparation and resources before
I could have a child. I'm still contemplating the best solution for education and I don't
have a philosophical foundation to think about the right preparation for a child, at all. I'm
also aware that plainly I would need more money to confidently have a child. There's a few studies
that show how more money is a direct hedge against the causes of suffering. And there is a particular
benchmark that tends to lead to more happiness. So we will see. I can only try my best to predict the
future circumstances my hypothetical child might inherit and; although not a lot might change,
a lot might also change in a short amount of time that might make my choice a lot more obvious
to make. If I were asked what is the biggest thing that I've changed my mind on recently,
it would be this. In making this video I was very inspired by my wife's YouTube video about having
kids. Her video had opinions but was still somehow incredibly compassionate and uncontroversial and,
this is a controversial topic. But one that I now personally believe is possible to navigate
and to come to some conclusions on. So thank you for your attention. Let me know what you think
by leaving me a comment below. And please like And subscribe if you want more videos like this.