Three WWI, France, Italy, and Eastern Europe monarchy alternate history questions

[WolfBear]

I'd argue the mass death of German men and the prostituting of German women to the Allied armies that caused the issues. Kind of hard to birth a new generation when the best men are dead and most the survivors are mostly those guys who weren't fit for military service or older guys (sperm quality drops off with age) and trauma and various chemicals people were exposed to during the war likely did not help with epigenetics. Seems like the charts that note that he problems starting in the 1970s would actually fit that theory.

I have a theory too that Feminism is causing a huge part of these issue, because educated career women, the smartest, delaying having kids so only have 1-2 if they have any at all (most don't). Given the collapse of birthrates down to levels not seen since the hyperinflation of the early 1920s, it seems that is the key issue. Immigration may not be helping, but it is a lower order effect IMHO.

Then there is the issue of pollution as well and perhaps even radiation from all the electronics we're using. Not to mention everyone getting fatter, lazier, and less social. Overreliance of computers is not helping either.

Feminism certainly has an effect. It would undoubtedly be easier for more women could be career women while simultaneously having and raising lots of children, similar to, say, Amy Coney Barrett, who has seven children in total (five biological and two adopted) while simultaneously being a US Supreme Court Justice. Perhaps artificial wombs could help with this in the long(er)-run if they will be developed and commercialized up to the point that they will actually be cheap enough for ordinary people to afford.

 

[sillygoose]

Feminism certainly has an effect. It would undoubtedly be easier for more women could be career women while simultaneously having and raising lots of children, similar to, say, Amy Coney Barrett, who has seven children in total (five biological and two adopted) while simultaneously being a US Supreme Court Justice. Perhaps artificial wombs could help with this in the long(er)-run if they will be developed and commercialized up to the point that they will actually be cheap enough for ordinary people to afford.

Once you get into the artificial stuff you hit all sorts of severely negative consequences to child development.

 

[WolfBear]

Once you get into the artificial stuff you hit all sorts of severely negative consequences to child development.

I don't know about that, actually. I mean, maybe? :

U Magazine

www.uclahealth.org

I'd like to see studies on animals gestated in artificial wombs, if there are actually any such studies, of course.

 

[sillygoose]

BTW I can't believe I forgot a critical issue: Brain Drain! The Allies took the best scientists and their families to other countries and way from Germany where they effectively were removed from the gene pool. Not only that, but millions left Germany when they could after the war to get away from the destruction and horrible occupation, so were also out of the gene pool.

 

[sillygoose]

I don't know about that, actually. I mean, maybe? :

U Magazine

www.uclahealth.org

I'd like to see studies on animals gestated in artificial wombs, if there are actually any such studies, of course.

Well you're missing out on a bunch of biological exposure. They say C-section kids are more prone to all sorts of issues due to missing out on the bacteria in the mother's birth canal that they get during the birth process.

Not sure animal studies are a great way to tell given that the human mind is much more complex. Uniquely so.

 

[WolfBear]

BTW I can't believe I forgot a critical issue: Brain Drain! The Allies took the best scientists and their families to other countries and way from Germany where they effectively were removed from the gene pool. Not only that, but millions left Germany when they could after the war to get away from the destruction and horrible occupation, so were also out of the gene pool.

Oh, certainly, brain drain could have been an issue, though the effects of brain drain could be more limited than you think due to regression towards the mean. Still, if we're talking about huge numbers of people here from a percentage perspective, then it could still have a sizable effect.

 

[sillygoose]

Oh, certainly, brain drain could have been an issue, though the effects of brain drain could be more limited than you think due to regression towards the mean. Still, if we're talking about huge numbers of people here from a percentage perspective, then it could still have a sizable effect.

Were it not for the death of something like 5 million or more men during the war I would agree with you about regression to the mean, but if you add up all the deaths and then add in the siphoning off of the best remaining minds and their families, plus major emigration after the war it adds up to a bigger problem than in normal circumstances. Especially with the very high infant and child mortality after WW2 in Germany for several years, which effectively killed off many of the children of soldiers who were killed in the war. And remember this is after the massive demographic problems created by WW1 and the birth rate collapse of the 1920s.