Oddbean

Maybe so. But there will always be babies to build for. If babies are fuel for the vehicle of society then good ideas are the steering mechanism. Power to go means nothing if the vehicle has driven off the road. While breeding is needed, it is FAR from being the only useful thing in life.

No, I refuse to give in to this point. In West Germany, people warned that the birthrate was dropping, and everyone laughed and said, "No worries! People will always have children!" But people didn't. The children were never had. And now they are missing.

So what is “the point” you refuse to give in to? My point is that “global population decline” is a manufactured fear and that attention to “bettering ones impact on society” will be at least as useful for humans “on aggregate” as making more babies. I don’t think we actually disagree here, or even on the fact that making babies is in general an important activity for humanity to continue with. Maybe we disagree on the effect that regional demographics might have on the global population? … I’m not sure.