San Diego Rationalists

We've rescheduled the meetup we had to postpone. Please join us as we explore the decision to have children. The discussion is in two parts:

Hour 1: Personal View--Have you decided whether to have children? What drives your personal decision to have children or not? Have you had specific experiences or learnings which have influenced you?

Hour 2: Societal View--Is society providing the right amount of support for parents? Should it be more or less? What specific changes would be fair?

Below is a list of optional readings for our meet-up on the Decision to have Children. If you only have time for a couple of readings, I suggest the first link in both Part 1 and Part 2. The Part 1 link to LessWrong describes one couple’s very detailed way that they decided whether to have a child. The Part 2 link at BirthGauge provides a global chart by country that shows changes in fertility rates worldwide.

Part 1: The Personal Decision on Whether to have Children
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/3MzDMBk4DZrbYePJS/kids-or-no-kids
https://ifstudies.org/blog/why-bother-having-kids
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/jun/10/un-population-fund-unfpa-report-reasons-falling-global-fertility
https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2024/07/25/reasons-adults-give-for-not-having-children/
https://www.lendingtree.com/debt-consolidation/raising-a-child-study/
https://ifstudies.org/blog/the-true-cost-of-raising-a-child
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/ksmM82G4LRJCFQaHa/should-you-have-children-a-decision-framework-for-a-crucial
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/x7kiTYQ3FMmNn7r6d

Part 2: The Societal Impacts of Changing Fertility and What to Do
https://x.com/BirthGauge/status/2041541223324823612
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/09/30/growing-share-of-americans-say-fewer-people-having-kids-would-negatively-impact-the-us/
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/a-fertility-reckoning
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/13-fertility-scenarios

This meetup will be hosted by Keith.

Welcome to our annual Spring ACX Everywhere meetup! If you only come to one event a year, go to the ACX Everywhere meetup in the fall. But if you want to come to TWO events a year, add this one to your calendar.

We talk about rationality, thinking, reasoning, relationships, science, math, economics, technology, and everything else. If you're interested in thinking and talking about ideas, we'd love to hear what you are thinking about. We love to share ideas, discuss, debate, learn and grow together. Don't worry about being the "right" kind of person - you most definitely are. Please join us!

You may want to bring a folding chair if you have one, but we should have enough.

We'll probably transition to playing yard games (like Kubb) at the end of the meetup, and from there into board games. Feel free to join for as much or as little as you would like.

This is not a normal rationalist event. This event is cross-posted from Eventbrite. Register there: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/san-diego-inaturalist-bioblitz-tickets-1986955733085

Description:
Get ready to explore the wild side of San Diego in person. This fun, hands-on event is all about spotting and sharing local nature using the iNaturalist app. Whether you’re a newbie or a nature pro, come connect with fellow enthusiasts, learn cool ID tips, and help document the amazing biodiversity around us. Bring your curiosity, your phone, and your love for the outdoors.