Falling Birth Rates and Virtual Sex

Dr. J. chats with Phllip Longman, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation and author of The Empty Cradle: How Falling Birth Rates Threaten World Prosperity and What to Do About It. They discuss the factors behind the (liberal, secular) birth dearth, the effects of a growing old-age dependency ratio problem throughout the world, and the effects of greater fundamentalists’ fertility. Then a bit of an essay by IEET Affiliate Scholar Andrea Kuszewski on the beneficial effects of sex, and potentially virtual sex, on the brain. Part 2 of 2.

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Posted by Khannea Suntzu  on  09/07  at  02:28 AM

This is an offensive narrative. So if 'liberal' minded people don't realize that people of an 'abrahamic' inclination are intentionally or implicitly moving to displacing them by a virulent and fundamentalist minority - then why would we tolerate their implicit(or tribally instinctive) attempt for a take-over ? I'd be willing to debate laws restricting birth rates across the board to disallow minorities gaming the system unfairly. Last thing we need in a few decades is a world dominate by 'other people' than us. It would be unfair and abusive.

And no this is not racism! Not if a genetic predisposition to being inclined to abrahamic religion is a racial trait right? (*snortle*)

And then I'd be willing to discuss systems to pay motherhood - carrying and well-raising a child is something that deserves separate firm payment, regardless of frivolities such as marriage. And most of all we may look at means to disentangle the arbitrary lottery of genetics, the atrocious abuse of carrying a child in a womb, and the waste signified by aging.

In other words -
- If we allow parents to find commercial, safe and moral ways to fix genomes,

- if we allow parents or states to generate new citizens outside the context of formalized marriage or outside biological gestation or even outside the somewhat abusive confines of the female womb

- if we can extend life expectancy with working to be developed treatments, paid for by mountains of pension funds - and reverse aging

Then this debate is academic. And any fears over the above solutions are just fear of cold water. Sillyness. Things change, get used to them, adapt to them.

Posted by Valkyrie Ice  on  09/07  at  12:00 PM

"greater fundamentalists’ fertility"

Meaningless. Children do not always follow their parents religious beliefs, particularly in an environment in which alternative information is freely available. The logical fallacies of this statement are enormous. It assumes that children will ONLY be exposed to their parents religion, will always become followers, and that no changes to the demographic are possible, such as increased access to knowledge via the internet.

fundamentalism depends on indoctrination in an environment free of competing worldviews. This is increasingly difficult to do worldwide, and will continue to be increasingly difficult as the internet spreads to the entire globe via handheld smartphones and the eventual VR phones. Fundamentalism is unlikely to survive for long in a highly connected, ever increasingly educated, world populace.

Posted by Khannea Suntzu  on  09/07  at  12:06 PM

You are 100% right. But *snortle* I just like the idea some confused christian reads this and literally EXPLODES with rage (laughs) - I mean seriously, did you take that idea serious? It would be impossible to implement. Even attempting to suggest it you'd be laughed out of parliament.

But the other suggestions (parents getting access to genemod, synthetic wombs, life extension) as uhm (smirk) 'paleative' to real or imagined increase or decrease of population numbers am DEAD SERIOUS.

Posted by Annavians18  on  09/23  at  03:33 PM

This is an offensive narrative. So if 'liberal' minded people don't realize that people of an 'abrahamic' inclination are intentionally or implicitly moving to displacing them by a virulent and fundamentalist minority - then why would we tolerate their implicit(or tribally instinctive) attempt for a take-over ? I'd be willing to debate laws restricting birth rates across the board to disallow minorities gaming the system unfairly. Last thing we need in a few decades is a world dominate by 'other people' than us. It would be unfair and abusive.

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