14 replies to this topic

[Ewolf20]

with predictions on the increase of divorce rates and the eventual abolishment of marriage, will the concept of family be relevant? or will it change from blood relations to emotional and spiritual bonds (think platonic relationships but in a deep familial way).  if that's not the case then what will it be?

 

 

 

 

 

[Mike the average]

Also add in the trend of not wanting kids and what would happen if scientists found a way to stop ageing later this century.

[Astralator]

Let me throw designer babies into the mix as well. The classical concept of family could take quite a hit – the child that needs to be raised possesses prodigy like talents, but might be genetically so different from its parents that a test would not acknowledge them as biological parents (Hell, why have biological parents in the first place).

 

And as Mike said increased lifespans. Those effectively doom the marriage till death do us part, since every additional year increases the chance of divorce. 

[Alice Tepes]

For all of these thing people are adding in as well as the original premise, the concept of family as we know it right now is already antiquated. once genetic engineering enters the playing field all bets are off. firstly that would make blood lines unimportant. the only thing that would really be tying people together would be laws and the flimsy idea of surnames. i guess this would cause a great divide between four groups. economically (assuming capitalism or something similar is still around) you would have the two major groups of those who can afford these services and those who cannot. morally there is the divide of those who have religious/cultural aversions to these procedures and those who do not. who is to say that an organization cannot create children, like a government or company. i think that many companies would like to be able to raise people to become board members or other workers. nonetheless it will play havoc with family trees.

[Sciencerocks]

Family is one of the most important elements of what it is to be human. Look back throughout our entire development as a species and you won't find us without one.

 

I seriously doubt that will go away.

[Mike the average]

If you look back throughout our entire development we possibly are all from the same family or even same mum.

[TheComrade]

=== nothing === 

[Ewolf20]

bump

[Pisiu369]

There was literally no need for a bump.

[Ewolf20]

well i need more opinions

[Alice Tepes]

Family is one of the most important elements of what it is to be human. Look back throughout our entire development as a species and you won't find us without one.

 

I seriously doubt that will go away.

 

 

If you look back throughout our entire development we possibly are all from the same family or even same mum.

for the second quote i can answer that quickly. that is highly unlikely if you are referring to something humanoid that uses sexual reproduction. for reasons involving minimum viable population theory and genetics. reference is here https://en.wikipedia...able_population

 

on to the first comment.

the concept of family has changed throughout the progress of evolution and cultural evolution. in other cultures and historically there have been times where family would include all extended family or anyone with your surname. other times an entire village would be considered one family. in the late 40's though nowish the nuclear family was popular. lastly the family of the mafia is really complicated. most of these organizations where based on blood ties and marriages. but once those blood ties are gone then what. i don't think that family as you know it will stay around forever i feel that it will eventually disappear or change into a form that we can hardly recognize today.

[Mike the average]

We didnt just go from common ancestor to 10000 homo sapiens overnight, or whatever minimum viable population size someone can come up with.   Minimum viable looks more to do with sustainability.

[Erowind]

Family will dissipate like everything else. Culture will change and our social needs will be met in different ways. I remember a part in Greg Egan's book Diaspora where certain polises¹ would periodically create orphan intelligences that gained sentience from observing their environments. Often a citizen of the polis would opt to guide the intelligence through sentience and act as a parent of sorts. With this said in the book these orphans got all their social interaction from friends and even when a citizen opted to guide them it was more of a mentor type relationship rather than a parent child one. The word parent was only used because it had the most appropriate connotation. Other times the new orphan would delve into millennia of solipsism without ever becoming self aware. The polis birthed new intelligences to guarantee that the population always grew, as at times people would go centuries without having children. This book took place centuries and later millennia into the future btw.

 

Polis. (1) A computer or network of computers which functions as the infrastructure for a community of conscious software. (2) The community itself.

The word polis is derived from the word metropolis. 

[Ewolf20]

bump

[Alislaws]

Just a thought, but if aging is solved, people (esp. women) no longer need to get married in their 20s, 30s or 40s to have a family and start having kids. 

 

This would remove a huge amount of pressure, and in turn would allow people to take longer and choose more selectively, so i would guess that while "till death do us part" is less likely, marriages will start lasting longer and ending more amicably. 

 

Also if you're married and its not working but you have kids, waiting 20 years for your kids to grow up and leave home before you separate is much less of a big deal if your life doesn't have a time limit. So as far as children being raised in a solid family environment, we can expect that to get better.