Selfish Reasons To Have More Kids was recommended by a friend. I was interested in the major thesis–that nature is more influential in a child’s life than nurture, and that we worry too much about our kids for no reason, since they’ll mostly tend to turn out just like us. Caplan even quotes Steve Sailer on page 3! (I’m assuming it’s the same Sailer dude who helps the loons navigate the world of HBD.)
It’s a breezy read. The “nature” thing was going on all kinds of illogical tangents with twin and adoption studies, such as the “fact” that adopted Korean kids of rich white folk don’t go as far as biological kids of rich white folk (because, you know, adopted Korean kids naturally fit into the family just as well as the kids who look like the rest of the family), or that parents who taught their kids to read often have adult children these days who don’t read (as if blogs and the internet have no effect on this). But at the end of the chapter, Caplan hedges by saying that’s what he believes and that the studies have limitations, such as the fact that the adoptions were mostly middle class families. He also relieves himself of the Sailer extrapolation by saying kids in the ghetto might not stay in the ghetto if given the opportunity.
Aside from the main reason I picked it up, the book does have some interesting economic observations about the price of kids and our investment/recuperation of our investment. For example, he writes about grandkids, and how when we get old, we often want nothing more than to spend more time with our grandkids, and that we can increase our chances of having grandkids by having more kids. He lists some interesting statistics about child safety, and how children today are safer than ever despite the media stories, and he says that the best way to influence how your kids turn out is to choose your mate wisely.
One problem that my friend who recommended the book brought up was the whole idea about your kids turning out just like you. As my friend said, “But what if you’re not happy about how you turned out?” 
Maybe that’s the mate selection. Marry a doctor so you can say, “My Son, the Doctor.”
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But here is an...
I’m going to read this book. I want to raise a couple of kids.
How does answering the question of whether nature or nuture is more influential make raising kids any easier or give you less to worry about? Does it make college tuition any less expensive? Does it make phone calls that start “Dad, the paramedic wants to talk to you” any less alarming? Does it make holding your kid while that kid is having febrile convulsions any less distressing?
If nature is more influential, that makes me worry more, thinking about stupid stuff from my teen years. Are my kids going to do those things? Scary.
That being said, I do have three kids, wouldn’t have minded one more, and would love to have loads of grand kids. But I don’t want to be used as primary daycare for them, as I have seen many grandparents used this way.
Jeff,
His response is that we “overpay.” So, for example, we sometimes think that sending our kid to tae kwon do class is going to make her life better, but we could save that money if we wanted to because, according to him, they’re not going to need that class. We also spend a lot of time watching our kids like hawks, but according to him, we could afford to just let them play by themselves because they’ll be fine because the world is safe and their genes will take them where they will.
Personally, I don’t know if I buy his theory.
Yah, that personal daycare thing might not be the best thing. Especially if our bodies hurt when we get old.
Kids suck lol.
“Overpaying?” With the possible exception of college tuition (and even that is arguable), none of my examples in have to do with overpaying.
I think his kids must be fairly young. When you have teenagers, you often can’t wait till they move out!
Jeff,
You called it! They were (if I recall correctly) 7 (twins) and 2. He’s still in the honeymoon phase, as am I!