I was just talking to NUTS because of my experiences over the weekend, and we got on the subject of births and deaths.

So do you thing people die and newborns fill the gaps left behind?
or,
Do you think the many newborns entering the world are pushing the elderly out?

Of course this is a metaphor and not actuality, just curious how you perceive the full circle phenomenon.

Napalm

Have you noticed how many boys have been born????If you look back in the worlds
history always preceeding destruction of whatever nature..war;.there is always an influx
of male babies being born....hmmmm...pretty interesting....Jusgrl/oz

Ya! *kicks in* us kids get a better life!!!!!!

People do tend to have more children if they experience more death in their family. I guess its some sort of "back-up" mentality. However, we tend to overdo it quite a bit.

The young don't really "push" the elderly out. Can't think of a logical way to explain that Grandpa died because there were too many kids in the streets. That only becomes true once there is insufficient food and shelter to go around. We aren't there yet.

I think it is mostly "gap-filling," except we tend to fill a pint gap with a gallon jug.

- Bomb…James Bomb

I would suggest our society's reproductive tendencies are affected by a number of influences. Two of the more prominent I think would be general economic health and the prevailing sociological demeanor. The former having a great deal to do with the latter.

Using the baby boomers as an example, conditions that led to the proliferation of the population would include 1. The return of thousands of battle weary WW2 vets to their attention (and whoopie) starved love ones and 2. The newly refreshed and burgeoning economy that led to the creation of suburbia and the lifestyle that comes with it (ie consumer conformity). This coming on the heels of the leanest years this country had seen since probably before we declared our independance, set the stage for alot of baby making. Think about it this way...thousands of poeple just survived unspeakable horrors to then come back home where they find work aplenty with wages that they had never been seen before. That would put me in the mood.

Since then I think the advance of womens lib has served to curtail the population a bit because of changing roles in the male/female relationship. By that I mean, women over the next couple of decades realized that their place was not necassarily in the home and that their contributions to society could be greater than just the bearing and raising of our children. This trend has slowly increased to the point that a two income family that waits to have children til their mid to late 30's is now quite common. I think the influx of wealth (particularly for the middle class) in the 80's gave cause for a small swell in the birthrate that has since curtailed with the recessions in the early and late nineties.

Another consideration would be the medical industry including better maternity practices and increased life expectancy due to new and better medicines but its not as clear to me how much affect it has had from generation to generation.

I disagree completely.

Alcohol and which other influence? That's what got me in trouble. I've 10 kids to 15 different women. Heh.

I do believe that both parents working has had some impact on the number of children people have in urban areas but not so much if at all in rural areas. My wife is from a very rural area and it seems like every other day she tells me that one of her friends is pregnant with their fifth or sixth kid.

Nape I can't really answer your question because I don't quite understand the question. Could you rephrase of clarify? Did you simply mean that people tend to curb the trauma of the death by having children? Just as I do with ice cream and stress?

More moms than kids? How does that work? Did a few share the pregnancy? ;)

- Bomb…James Bomb

An egyptian Pharoah (hope that stuffs right) had 91 children and 80 wives.....
kinda strange

It's very tricky James. Heh.

How much better off would the world be if WOMEN ran all the countries?

(have fun)

@ nap

Good topic!
it's actually something that has crossed my mind before during meditation (or english class lol).
ive always wondered if God puts the newborns here to replace the ones who die...
if you look at statistics, more newborns are born every second then people dieing though.
so the circle of life repeats itself, but does so in a double sense possilby?
something to ponder...
but it all comes down to the other things 2.
for those who believe in creation (the theory where a greater force, be it God or whatever, created the whole world and universe), everything we use today came from a component that God, or that greater force, made.
Even though that force didn't make the car you drive or make the house you live in, this force DID create the properties that the materials it took to make those things are made of.
I know it sounds confusing, but in reality if you think about it long enough, it makes sense.

Now im not attacking religious beliefs or trying to get anyone to believe something that I believe, I'm just saying that it's something to think about.
Humans marvel at their own magnificence, and we give ourselves credit for many of the things we achieve...but if there is truely a greater force, are we the ones really making these achievements?
Or is it that greater force making us do this by controling our minds, or that little light bulb inside that turns on when an idea hits?
Is it that greater force that put that idea there?

It sounds redundant I know, but still....something to ponder about.
Of course we will never know, until death when hopefully all of lifes questions can be answered.

Now that I have totally confused the whole population of TT...BACK TO SUBJECT!

@ TG

I would love to see the day that happens!
In my opinion...there would be half the problems there is today lol.
lets put the more level-headed sex on the throne of the world!
YA!
Go Women!

-scotty

Last edited: Tuesday, January 11, 2005 at 7:02:36 AM

If women ran the countries? Oh, should I be good or bad about this one? ;)

I think the running joke is that we'd be at war every month, but at least we'd make up and call a truce a week later. :P

Seriously, though, I'm not sure if the woman in the upper seats are all that much better than the men. The personality required to OBTAIN the seat of power is generally an unlikable one for USING the seat of power, no matter the gender.

But, at least we wouldn't be having the "my missile is bigger than your missile" defense spending that we have! Women don't seem to have that issue. ;)

- Bomb…James Bomb

Some greater force is telling my mind to think that is a pretty crazy idea. There is no magic man -- you control your destiny and your thoughts and your actions and...

@ 44

Lol well I can tell by that comment that you are an atheist...i was just saying that for those who are christians here.
as a christian...i believe that we have free will...but God still has a plan for us...and he will point us in the right direction through our thoughts.

-scotty

@james - Don't women have issues with who has the bigger booty or boobies? ;)

Anyway, I have to agree in a way with you that I don't think it would make that big of a difference of what gender was in office since I think officials need a certain sort of personality to succeed in their position. I do grow weary of the idea that we would just automatically be in a better position if women ruled the world. I don't think men are all that bad, I mean, we are still here aren't we? But anyway, if women want it, let'em take it (if they can). :P

Oh...and one more thing. As far as I know, the older folks are usually the ones pushing out the babies. ;)

Last edited: Tuesday, January 11, 2005 at 8:43:49 AM

We can never have a woman in charge of the country. She'd demand that every business in the country have year round Red Tag Sales and the population would explode with uppity broads from all over the world. There would be cat fights on every corner with women fighting over the last Elmo doll for their rotten kid. Wait. On second thought maybe that's a good thing. Hehehe.

Ahh let the women have it. That would allow for more time playing tt while ignoring our children and domestic duties.