[clooless]

Ask yourself if you'd be willing to painlessly end your life, if given the option. Most people prefer to keep on living, which is strong evidence that on balance, despite all the bumps and grief of living, life is still pretty awesome.

[irjustin]

I'm not advocating suicide or anything of that form.

I'm asking, why should the majority of the world have kids given that life is largely a struggle and in so many places of poverty an extremely difficult one?

[pintxo]

Because in a poverty situation, where there is zero state support, the only ones who might eventually help you are your kids? So procreating is a legitimate survival strategy.

[irjustin]

I recognize that and am starting to wonder if that's actually humane.

[p_j_w]

Is it, or is it strong evidence that we have an innate fear of death built in?

[pintxo]

Do they consciously decide this, or is this basic bio-chemistry, selected for over millennia? One would expect evolution to select for chemistry that make an organism want to continue living on. As those organisms have a higher chance of procreating and caring for their offsprings.

[lazide]

Or, most of the folks who preferred dying over having kids did so before procreating - and the folks left don’t have that issue.

Regardless of suffering levels.