Quote: (02-27-2014 07:05 AM)dreambig Wrote:
The title of this thread is awesome, as is the OP's username.
As for me, I say fuck legacies. Not to be morbid, but once you're dead this show is over forever. Doesn't matter whether you had 0 or 10,000 kids. Enjoy this life because its the only one you will get.
To each their own, but I don't buy into nihilism.
Life is short for humans. We typically don't even last a century. Mortality is a bitch - it severely limits our influence.
So, how does a human cheat that mortality and maintain influence well after their death? Two options:
1. Be great. Do something so spectacular that you will not only be remembered, but influential to other humans long after you're gone. Einstein has done this. Julius Caesar has done this. Even very bad men like Stalin and Hitler have done this.
2. If you're 99.999% of people, your best bet for persistence after death is reproduction. Your children carry your thoughts, your teachings, your appearance, and your DNA (the fundamental components that make you you) into the future, and they can pass them on as well. Procreation is as close as Joe or Jane Average will ever get to actual immortality - their children (who actually carry the fundamental material that made Joe and Jane who they were) will carry on long after they die.
I've also seen firsthand the value of legacies. What my great-grandfather accomplished has had a substantial impact on the quality of life for all of his descendants, including myself. What my grandfather did has had a tremendous impact on who I am and the opportunities I have today. My family has been somewhat successful in some ways, and those successes stem directly from the actions taken by my predecessors. They cared about their legacy, and we all benefited from that. We've carried their legacy forward long after they've gone.
The fact that they chose to have children is actually important: my great-grandfather has many descendants who carry his name forward, as well as his blood and his DNA. It has been spread all across the world - I have cousins who have married Scots, Sri Lankans, English, Austrians and more. He's long gone, but key aspects of his identity (his actual DNA/blood, his influence and his name) persist. His actions have ensured that he has had a hand in deciding where a significant number of the people who currently inhabit this earth get their blood, their history, their perspectives and their heritage. There are
many other very
prominent examples
of just
this kind of
thing.
The man who chooses not to have children doesn't get this. Now, that's fine - maybe he really and truly doesn't care to have it, and he's certainly not obligated to give a damn, but we can't pretend that it isn't consequential at all. It is ok not to desire children or a legacy, but it is folly to pretend that there are no benefits to doing so.
This life is indeed the only one I'll get. I'm not going to see my great-great grandchildren. That doesn't mean that any action I take now to lay a foundation for them isn't worthwhile or important. These things do matter. I care about my descendants. I want to make sure that the actions I take now have a positive impact on them, even if I'm not there to see it.