In reply to Flinticus:
> How worried are you about the world they will grow up into?
No kids, and not known for my optimism, but I think now's a better time than any to be born. I agree climate change is a big issue and don't go with the "huh yeah, someone'll sort than one out when we really need to" outlook. If we had evolved brains capable of long-term planning, we would be arranging and using our democratic institutions to sort it out now. We would also be a lot better at distributing resources so we didn't have ludicrous concentrations of wealth here and millions starving to death there.
Human beings are very sophisticated mammals, and all the war, technology, misery, art and love will remain as our behavioural repertoire for a long time to come. As we accumulate knowledge and find better ways to gather and distribute resources we're able to make space to be a little fairer to each other - slow progress admittedly, but we don't generally sell slaves or burn people alive these days. Where there are plenty of resources, we worry about things like gay marriage and work-life balance - this is a great place to be, rather than worrying about where to get your next meal or who's going to burn your village down.
Here's a good clip about "1st World Problems" that's kind of relevant:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uLL418S1GQ&index=2&list=LLdWC6Y_AS...
And if you want a dose of serious, well evidenced, brilliantly presented optimism about the future of the human race, here is the wonderful Hans Rosling on the "population problem" - really worth watching this if you've got the time: