[summitsummit]

> Also a despotic regieme could still do good engineering and science and colonize other planets and whatnot, making it less likely we go extinct, also it would be likely to fragment into different societies at that point.

Is it bad that deep down, I feel that I don't care for humanity's proliferation or "success" if my progeny is not part of it? for instance, if our current human population is decimated by some bioweapon, and somehow humanity resurfaces and successfully ventures into the stars (without my genes), then I care not for it?

[zizee]

Given that your descendants several generations removed would carry hardly any of your genetic makeup, and would have no memory of you, they might as well be the progeny of anyone. Or are you saying you also don't care what people achieve in a few hundred years from now?

[summitsummit]

No, I care a lot about the future of humanity, but only if my progeny is a part of it. I was my descendants to be among those colonizing the stars. I guess it's kind of like the difference between having sex vs watching porn.

[absolutelyrad]

> Is it bad that deep down, I feel that I don't care for humanity's proliferation or "success" if my progeny is not part of it?

No. Since you have no stake in the future why would you care to invest in it? Makes zero sense. If you do not have a progeny, focus on maximizing your pleasure instead of caring for the world that isn't going to remember you.

The biological purpose of human life is to reproduce, and making sure your progeny reproduces until the heat death of the universe. All the education and hoops most people pass through are just ways to gain access to better mates and ensure better survival of your progeny like civilizations that become multi-planetary will be more resistant to any proliferation event.

If you believe in a religion that is Abrahimic like Judaism, Christianity or Islam, then you'd have another meaning to life.

[im3w1l]

It's so easy to focus on our differences, but the fact is that humans are very similar. Heck 96% of your DNA letters are the same as that of a chimpanzee. So even if you have no direct descendants your genes will be passed on.