# Children society **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 25, 2021, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-society/938667 "2021-03-25T11:25:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Red59145](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Red59145](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red59145)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-society/938667/1 "2021-03-25T11:25:33Z")
why are children sacred? ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-society/938667/2 "2021-03-25T11:34:31Z")
Why do you ask questions like this? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-society/938667/3 "2021-03-25T11:35:51Z")
Could you define what you mean by ‘sacred’? - I feel like the conversation could head off in completely unproductive directions without that. I mean, ‘sacred’ as in ‘revered by religion’ or just in a general sense of ‘valued’? - if someone starts to answer on the assumption that it’s one of those, and it’s not that one, then they’re wasting their time explaining something you weren’t talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Red59145](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Red59145](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red59145)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-society/938667/4 "2021-03-25T11:43:27Z")
that means that children are very important ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-society/938667/5 "2021-03-25T11:51:58Z")
There’s a huge difference between “very important” and “sacred”. And there’s another huge difference between either of them and “children society”. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-society/938667/6 "2021-03-25T12:01:30Z")
Why are children important? The purpose (if there is one) of all organisms is to reproduce; any organisms that didn’t take this seriously are no longer around. The ones that _did_ take it seriously, needed to encode that in certain behaviours, so that it continued happening in each generation (if they didn’t, see above). The outcome of this is a world full of organisms that are the selection of those who got the above formula ‘right enough’ to stick around. One viable strategy is to invest care in offspring, to try to increase their chances of survival and eventual success. Of course, caring about offspring isn’t the only viable strategy - one other obvious one is to have offspring that are so cheap to produce in vast number, that you don’t need to care so much about them - you just spray them around and let them take their chances - a lot of plants do that, but also quite a few animals. Humans, can’t produce thousands or millions of cheap offspring per parent, so we evolved to use the strategy where you have a few, and take care of them. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-society/938667/7 "2021-03-25T12:37:29Z")
---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/children-society/938667/8 "2021-03-25T12:43:16Z")
Closed as no content Op and in wrong forum. It may later be moved and reopened by another mod.