Sometimes I wonder what’s the point of growing old. We get old because we can. Medical improvements and health care systems allow us to do so. But are we prepared for all the hardships of old age? Are we ready to lose all who are dear to us, as well as not being able to take care of ourselves due to the pain that hurts us in every single part of our body? Take a moment and think about our evolutionary past.
A couple of thousand years ago people seldom lived through their thirties. One could easily die of a tooth inflammation or a broken finger. Not to mention ‘intraspecific conflicts’, i.e. wars. People in their forties were considered exceptionally fit and resistant to diseases. It is not incidental that humans are sexually mature at 12-13 years of age. You are evolved to procreate and pass your genes on as early as you can before you suffer an unexpected accident or malady and meet your demise.
You look askance at teenage girls with child nowadays (if you ever see one), however, bearing children at so youthful an age used to be considered quite normal not very long ago. At the same time, I’m well aware of the fact that people did not have to mind their money-making careers in the Bronze Age. One didn’t have to work 9 to 5 every day just to make a living. But still, in young twenty-ish people of today, who could easily afford one or two children, the thought of starting a family does not so much as cross their minds. Most people are so busy making money that they completely miss the purpose for which they were brought upon this earth. Not few women only come to their senses (if ever) when they reach 30-35 years of age, by which time serious health issues might be involved for both mother and offspring.
My personal opinion, with hindsight, is that people should have children in their early twenties. At 24-25 at the latest. I know it might be difficult but nature did not endow most of us with much time to spend with our children.
And to all money-grubbing bachelors in their late thirties and forties: When in the course of your life do you intend to sit down, take a deep breath and tell yourself: ‘now I’ve made enough money, now’s the time for children’? At forty? Forty-five? Well, I’ve got a thing for you: you might not live to see them grow to adolescence.
Therefore I hereby call upon everyone to go grab your partner and reproduce before it’s too late!
(P.S.: Look who’s talking! The author of this piece might not be completely authoritative on the subject.)
Geophagus 