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by jimbokun 5787 days ago
Except, today, high levels of wealth is inversely correlated with the number of offspring.
3 comments

Well the real world is a much more complex scenario than simple simulations. Two points though:

1. We have not had much time to evolve away from such a mentality, so it's still very much bred into us.

2. One could say that gaining wealth is actually playing a strategy designed to preserve more than just your immediate offspring. The wealthy have less risk of seeing their line disappear in future generations.

With the number of official offspring.

Sadly, many studies have shown that a surprisingly high percentage of children are not the biological children of their fathers. IIRC, around 5%. And it's well known that many high-profile/successful men have many affairs.

This is fits in with evolutionary pressures.

Not really. It looks like there is weak or no correlation between wealth and number of offspring.
No. In most countries, an increase in productivity / GDP / quality of life is strongly correlated with a lowering in fertility rate:

http://geocurrentevents.blogspot.com/2010/07/misconceptions-...