[extropy-chat] Rational thinking

[BillK]

On 11/30/06, Lee Corbin wrote:
>
<snip>
> Just how irrational would it be for you to sacrifice many hundreds
> of thousands of dollars for a cause to which you were dedicated,
> even though that sacrifice entailed a somewhat diminished
> expectation of the eventual survival of your own skin?
>
> What I see over and over again on this list is that causes which
> repel us we evaluate as "irrational" whereas causes that we
> support---e.g. the reduction of the world's great terrorist
> state (the U.S.) --- merit great effort and even sacrifice.
>

Exactly how rational is it to spend 140,000 to 280,000 USD (depending
on family income) on raising a child to age 17?  (1)  And then there
is college costs in addition.
These costs mean the parents spend much less on their own lifestyle,
pension fund, etc.
Surely this cannot be rational?

As the falling western birth rate shows, it is more rational for the
human race to die out.

(1)  <http://www.usda.gov/cnpp/using2.html>
      Expenditures on Children by Families



BillK