What values will you impart on your (future) offspring unit? Will you be lenient or strict? What kind of lifestyle will you try to give him/her? Would you teach the unit about Santa Claus and the flexibility of sexual identity at a young age? Will you push your unit into trying different things? And so on.

How will you raise your offspring unit?

Me?

Persuasion. From the very start I'd teach it to argue well. Pretty much inspired by (you need an account to see links). I highly doubt I'd care about dealing with a "brat" that's questioning/trying to backsass me at every turn as long as it's making a valid point. In essence, this teaches logic and critical thinking (and perhaps in some sense, social manipulation?)

Compassion and tolerance. I would definitely teach them to be compassionate and open-minded. Seeing other people's viewpoints is critical to having a good character, IMO. Might also make them less likely to be delinquents. I'd also teach them to keep things in perspective from a young age. This might keep them from seeing everything as the-end-of-the-world later on when they're teenagers.

Constant building up. IMO, I've always been tough, but fair. This would probably mean that I'd encourage them to succeed at everything -- academics, athletics, and dealing with people, but be realistic if I seriously doubt their ability in basketball. However, I'd encourage them to keep practicing rather than give up, since practice produces results. Self-confidence is an amazing thing.

Stepping back. However if they end up anything like me, they'll hate having authority figures telling them what to do. I was lucky enough to have very lenient parents who just let me do whatever I want. But if they're definitely spiraling down into depression or getting into drugs, I'm checking them in with a therapist/rehab o-e.

And lastly, I'd take them to the library, the museum, and the zoo as often as I can. My parents did the same every week and it's one of the best things they could ever do when I was a kid.

You guys?