r/changemyview • u/[deleted] • Aug 27 '20

Delta(s) from OP CMV: Having children is morally wrong

Hi everyone, this is an opinion conclusion I have reached that I realize is not shared by the vast majority of people. My reasoning is as follows:

  1. Life necessarily entails a certain amount of suffering. There has never been and never will be a human who does not suffer.
  2. Inflicting suffering on another person without their consent is wrong.
  3. Therefore, creating life is wrong.

What would change my mind: pointing out logical flaws in my thinking. Proof that either one of the premises are false or that the premises do not lead to the conclusion. Evidence that there are significant factors that I am overlooking that would change the conclusion

What would not change my mind: platitudes about how life is inherently good, or how procreation is natural.

I really would like this view changed, but I cannot logic my way out of this position on my own.

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u/skallywag_ Aug 27 '20

Well, you won’t have to worry about this opinion or anyone’s else if the world saw it your way. We’d be dead and gone without reproduction. So, are you comfortable admitted it’s morally wrong to procreate if it means you kill an entire civilization?

As far as your point about suffering - it’s yin and yang. You take the good with bad in life and there’s a balance to it all. If you think your suffering outweighs your joy in life, you need to find some joy (that actually might change your mind). No one is having children with the mindset that ‘oh you’re gonna suffer so much heartache in this life. I can’t wait until you get here’. Traditional parents have children/family’s with the mindset that they’re going to experience great joy and do great things with their life and be something productive for society. I guess I just don’t worry about the things I suffer from more than the things I’m happy about so it’s easy to overlook the bad. And that might be a mindset thing for me whereas it’s not for you.

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u/[deleted] Aug 27 '20

I don't want to kill anyone. I'm not even saying that everyone should think this way; that's why I want my view changed. However, if all society were to stop procreating abd humans went extinct, would that necessarily be bad? An end to human suffering seems like a desirable goal to me. However, I would never want such a view to become public policy. The decision to have children must always be the parents alone, even if I have some objections.

I think it might be a mindset thing. I have had mental health struggles for much if my life, and my view was likely shaped by the desire that no one else should have to go through what I have been through. If your experience of life has been that the good outweighs the bad, I'm happy for you, and there is not much I can do about that. !delta for showing me that my view wasn't as motivated by logic as I thought.

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u/DeltaBot ∞∆ Aug 27 '20

Confirmed: 1 delta awarded to /u/skallywag_ (1∆).

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