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Why do you want to teach someone? What will you get from it? The happy child won't always be happy, in fact most of the time they will be unhappy, like nearly everyone else on the planet. Do you want this?
I get a sense of accomplishment, the same that a teacher gets from seeing their student understand something for the first time. And if I do my job right, the happy child will usually be happy. I can't really speak for "nearly everyone else on the planet," but I am not unhappy most of the time. If my child had the same temperament and happiness levels that I've had, I would consider my parenting a success.
This ties in a lot I think with your perspectives in the "Where do you draw the line?" thread. The fact that a child will sometimes be unhappy is not a reason to give up and never have them, just like the fact that a relationship will sometimes be unhappy is not a reason to leave in search of something immediately better--because being unhappy is a part of life sometimes, but when I get past it I have more self-worth than before, because I take pride in successfully overcoming odds.
And that's really what it boils down to, probably, is pride. More directly, self-esteem. You said:
Personally, I don't think I know anything about life. So an attempt to teach a child 'everything I know' would probably result in yet another confused and malconditioned person wandering aimlessly around the planet. Why would I want to do that?
I personally think I know a reasonable amount about life, and I feel I could communicate those things effectively to a child. I think your fear of parenting comes from a lack of self-esteem, and perhaps a general pessimism.
Look at your life, and find anything in which you take pride. What is it that causes you to feel pride over your accomplishment? Those things are directly applicable to the accomplishment of raising a child.
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