It isn't cute. It is horrific.

Great point.

This demonstrates the duality of the human brain.

There is one part (the limbic) which is squeaking with irrational delight at the "cuteness" of the babies and the nascent nuclear family.

There is another, cold and calculating part (the neo-cortex) that is recoiling at the mathematical implications.

And when you juxtapose the warm-fuzzy "feeling" part (limbic) against the cold calculating one (neo) in a democratic society, the warm fuzzy part wins hands down every time.

The Die is indeed cast.

Yeah, and they are all the same genes, so you get 8x the consumption for 1x the genetic diversity.

This subject reminds me of a science fiction novel I read years ago as a teen. It was set in a dystopian future (is there any other?) where population problems became so profound, in part to due to much longer lifespans (in the book, the average age of a US citizen had been extended with 'miracle medicine' to something like 150 to 160 years of age) that in order for families to get anything approaching decent medical care the parents had to undergo sterilization. Indeed, the plot of the book, in part, was about a low level criminal who smuggled black market surgical kits to surgeons who performed lifesaving surgeries on folks who refused to be sterilized. I even think the name of the book was "Bladerunner" (not to be consfused with the other book and movie by the same name.

SubKommander Dred