I am an anti-natalist. I believe it is immoral to knowingly create a self-aware being. 1/
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This applies to the creation of consciously self-aware artificial intelligence just as it applies to human beings. Although most people will readily acknowledge the ethical concerns in the case of AI, it's not so easy to see that it also applies to creation of human children. 2/
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There is a fundamental asymmetry in these discussions which often goes unnoticed. I find this point subtle, difficult to grasp, and even more difficult to articulate, but essential for understanding the issue (so thank you for bearing with me as I attempt it). 3/
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The asymmetry is not between pleasure and pain; both pleasure & pain are experiences. As such, they are relevant only when talking about experience. Where there is no experience, neither pleasure nor pain exist. Where there is experience, both pleasure and pain are inevitable. 4/
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When the dichotomy is experience vs non-experience, all of the usual arguments in favor of experience fail because they assume the lens of experience. 5/
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The observation, for example, that it would be a great tragedy if there were no joy (and therefore it's a fair bargain to suffer pain), is simply a category error; from the point of view of non-experience, there is neither joy nor tragedy, no remorse, & no fear of missing out. 6/
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Where there is no experience, there is no experience whatsoever. If sentient life had never arisen in the universe, no one would feel bad about it. The child not conceived does not regret its non-existence. 7/
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While those of us left behind can mourn the death of a loved one, and those of us without children can lament the loss of what could have been, the dead and the unborn feel nothing. Creation of new creatures to share our pain, while understandable, is a profoundly selfish act. 8/
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Anticipating straw men: -Kenneth, are you saying we should kill everybody? Nope -Are you saying parents are bad people? Nope -Are you saying we should all commit suicide? Nope -Are you saying joy doesn't matter? Nope -Are you saying you hate life? Nope 9/
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hence KW #hardcoredharma: “We must forgive each other our arising, for our existence always torments others. The golden rule in the midst of this mutual misery has always been, not to do no harm, but as little as possible; and not to love one another, but as much as you can.”
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