Louise Perry is one of my favorite writers—if you haven’t yet, I strongly recommend subscribing to her Substack.

We did a livestream recently covering a lot of ground:

* Louise shares how being neurotic can actually be adaptive when raising kids, even if it means worrying about choking hazards or obsessing over safety devices.

* Louise asks me about the "secret sauce" for kids who overcome trauma and neglect, sparking a thoughtful comparison between my journey and J.D. Vance's. I share some of my riskier choices growing up, reflecting on how low neuroticism can be as dangerous as it is freeing.

* We dive into a classic debate—how much of resilience is about raw attributes, and how much comes from the environment you're thrown into?

* We discuss a study indicating that physical strength accounts for some of the sex differences in neuroticism—and what that might mean for men, women, and survival strategies. There’s some truth to stereotypes. We talk about studies indicating that height and physicality predicts political views, and what this says about human nature.

* Some research indicates that people high on the Dark Triad personality traits are more likely to endorse antinatalist views (the opinion that it’s wrong to have children). I suggest that antinatalism might be a mating interference strategy for people with “dark” personality traits. They (unconsciously) try to convince you not to have children in order to conserve resources for themselves and their own offspring. Similarly, the judgment against large families in affluent circles might also be an evolutionary mating interference strategy, subtly discouraging reproductive competition.

* Louise and I discuss how declining birth rates may be shaping the genetic and psychological traits of future generations—and what traits we might be "selecting" without realizing it.

* The reversal of the Flynn effect, large cities as "IQ shredders," and how the pursuit of ambition might be thinning the ranks of highly intelligent parents.

* I suggest that there might be a critical developmental window for becoming comfortable around infants. Growing up around babies might be essential for adults to feel comfortable with them—something increasingly rare in modern life.

* How religious traditions that elevate motherhood and family formation might have evolved to counteract natural ambivalence toward having children.

* Louise proposes that Musk’s pro-natalist, boundary-pushing ambitions align with a uniquely British Victorian industrialist tradition of exploration and colonization.

* We reflect on how cultural shifts, like the "cool girl" ideal, discouraged women from seeking commitment, leaving many stuck in "situationships."

* Louise explains J.D. Unwin’s controversial theory that sexual permissiveness leads to societal decline, which has striking parallels with modern trends.

* I reference Mark Regnerus’s book Cheap Sex, and we examine how easy access to casual sex and porn has reduced men’s motivation to pursue marriage, careers, and societal contributions.

* Much more in the conversation

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Sexual Morality and Societal Progress

Rob Henderson's Office Hours (private feed for [email protected])

Sexual Morality and Societal Progress