Every week I present a new book, that is in my opinion crap that somebody has published... The event runs under the hastags 🙈 #RandomThingsTuesday #CrapGotPublished
The next book of this series is the one with the lovely title:
"Better Never to Have Been: The Harm Of Coming Into Existence" 😱
Who does not want a little nice depression. Who does not like to hate himself for no reason...
Well if you are in the mood of getting depressed but can't really find a reason to, than this book is for you!
If you ever lie awake wondering about the butterfly effect... what small things you’ve done in the world that have had massive repercussions, then this book is NOT for you, because after it you’ll actually just straight up stop sleeping.
The very thought of sitting down to write, and deciding that the knowledge you wish to share with the world is purely what the world would be like without you in it... gives me the strangest kind of chills.
That said, if you’re in a deep, dark, “You don’t know me, or what I’m going through!” kind of mood, perhaps the idea of exploring life without humans interference is actually going to be fun!
You might learn something too!
Most people believe that they were either benefited or at least not harmed by being brought into existence.
Thus, if they ever do reflect on whether they should bring others into existence - rather than having children without even thinking about whether they should they presume that they do them no harm.
Better Never to Have Been challenges these assumptions. The author argues that coming into existence is always a serious harm. Although the good things in one's life make one's life go better than it otherwise would have gone, one could not have been deprived by their absence if one had not existed.
Those who never exist cannot be deprived. However, by coming into existence one does suffer quite serious harms that could not have befallen one had one not come into existence. Drawing on the relevant psychological literature, the author shows that there are a number of well-documented features of human psychology that explain why people systematically overestimate the quality of their lives and why they are thus resistant to the suggestion that they were seriously harmed by being brought into existence.
The author then argues for the 'anti-natal' view - that it is always wrong to have children - and he shows that combining the anti-natal view with common pro-choice views about foetal moral status yield a "pro-death" view about abortion (at the earlier stages of gestation).
Anti-natalism also implies that it would be better if humanity became extinct. Although counter-intuitive for many, that implication is defended, not least by showing that it solves many conundrums of moral theory about population.
I hope you head has not already exploded... but yeah, what can I say... people think about stuff 😂
If you can't wait to enter the slightly depressed thinkers club, here is the amazon link 😉
See you next week with my presentation of a shocking new crap book! 👍
This book! One of my peers did a master's thesis on this book and I know prof. Benetar is a strange person. Small world! I think he teaches from Cape Town.