[ExI] Stone age intuition was medical power of attorney

[Rafal Smigrodzki]

On Thu, Dec 11, 2014 at 2:09 PM, Tara Maya <tara at taramayastales.com> wrote:


> Over the long haul, over many generations, having fewer but more
> compassionate, intelligent and fun children is what pays off… because those
> are the kind of people other people of our species want to be around.
>

### But there is no contradiction between having many children and having
intelligent, well-educated, well-socialized ones. Have you ever watched "17
kids and counting"? The Duggars are a remarkably well-behaved, nice,
socially adept bunch. In fact, it is the well-organized, smart,
conscientious parents who have the ability to produce the most offspring,
not the single alcoholics who get knocked up randomly. The well-to-do
British had for hundreds of years sustained very high birth rates, in part
by using wet nurses, with significant impact on the genetic make-up of the
population.

There is also no contradiction between being prolific and being happy. I
was surprised to learn that the happiness premium enjoyed by the Amish in
comparison to the average American is equivalent to the extra happiness you
get from being a billionaire.

This is not to say that I aspire to having a double-digit brood - as I
noted previously, I have only one child (so far) - but the two-child norm
is a social construct that can easily be swept away by minor evolutionary
or memetic changes.

Rafal
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