[diea]

No, no, maybe (I am 25y/o)

I read many responses mentioning you should have kids to 'pass on your genes' so potentially your offspring can be a 'better you' and improve the world.

I would argue that adoption could be a good alternative. When adopting, you are potentially doing all this without actually contributing to the world population increase.

Also, I think RMS made a respectable choice, and probably indeed contributed more to society than if he would have had kids. Not having kids is IMHO probably a harder decision than actually having kids.

[unclenoriega]

I think you're right, but your phrasing is a bit odd. If you adopt, you are explicitly not passing on your genes. I think a better word here is 'memes' (in the original sense) or 'values' if 'memes' is too polluted.

[diea]

Agreed :-)