Spare a Thought for the Billions of People Who Will Never Exist

[Nevilledog]

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Businessweek
@BW
·
May 31, 2021
Spare a thought for the billions of people who will never exist. As world population growth slows, the never-conceived are the ultimate forgotten ones.

Spare a Thought for the Billions of People Who Will Never Exist
As world population growth slows, the never-conceived are the ultimate forgotten ones.
bloomberg.com

Khashoggi’s Ghost
@UROCKlive1
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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-24/spare-a-thought-for-the-billions-of-people-who-will-never-exist

A couple decides to have one child instead of two, or none instead of one. This happens all over the world. Billions of children are never conceived. How real is the loss of a life that never began? Is there a right to exist? Is there an ideal size of the world population?

These related questions become more pressing as population growth slows. China’s population is on track to peak before 2025. Population growth in the U.S. this year is likely to be the lowest in history except for one year, 1918.

The late University of Oxford philosopher Derek Parfit wrestled with the question of the world’s ideal population in an influential 1984 book, Reasons and Persons. He didn’t delve into the carrying capacity of the planet, and he stayed away from the issue of abortion, which occurs after conception and thus raises a different set of concerns.

In an abstract, theoretical way, the British thinker presented what he called the “Repugnant Conclusion.” Here’s how he stated it: “For any possible population of at least 10 billion people, all with a very high quality of life, there must be some much larger imaginable population whose existence, if other things are equal, would be better, even though its members have lives that are barely worth living.”

*snip*

[roamer65]

1. Inflation is now the planet's friend.

The higher the cost of living goes, the less children people produce.

This is a GOOD thing for the overall survival of our species.

[Skittles]

2. throughout history

if women always had control there would be far fewer people on the planet

[OAITW r.2.0]

9. If men conceived and birthed children-

Abortion would be a sacrament and birth control would be over the counter.

[Talitha]

19. THIS

[11 Bravo]

50. There would also be "heaviest flow" and "biggest clot" contests.

Quite possibly televised live on ESPN.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

3. LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO so we're going beyond conception to pre-conceived?

[MomInTheCrowd]

4. Good gawd

[rownesheck]

5. Ummm...

I prevent billions of people being born on a weekly basis.

[uriel1972]

6. FFS nt.

[brooklynite]

7. I never wanted to have kids. I got snipped to keep it that way.....

[Yavin4]

8. And they will never know who Donald Trump is or was.

Lucky assholes.

[uriel1972]

10. Or the abject horror...

Of the Prequels.

[Yavin4]

12. Or Game of Thrones seasons 5 through 8. n/t

[Buns_of_Fire]

11. A day doesn't go by when I don't not think about them. nt

[Salviati]

14. If anything is ever worthy of the response below, it certainly is this steaming pile...

[smirkymonkey]

24. That cracked me up!

What is that from?

[Duppers]

29. ❤

(Except the Gawd part. 😁 - damn old atheist here)

[malaise]

40. ROFL

Perfect

[Hekate]

15. With 7 Billion people on the planet & a good number of them starving or otherwise dying early...

...that is THE most breathtakingly STUPID thing I have ever heard.

[Coventina]

16. The world would be so much better off without us. I hope we die out.

Voluntarily would be preferable, but whatever it takes....

[Silent3]

20. A sudden die-off of humanity would be HORRENDOUS for the ecosystem

Only a slow decline of human population would be good for the planet.

Do I have to explain why, or can you understand why by simply taking a moment to think about it?

Life has been on this planet for at least 3.7 billion years. It has less than a billion left to go unless it can leave this planet. So also take a moment to realize that, for all of the destruction we've caused, humans are also the current best hope for earthly life to outlive the planet itself.

[Thunderbeast]

21. I don't believe that the universe has an opinion

One way or another.

[Silent3]

22. I said nothing about any opinion of the universe

My response was to the idea that somehow the rest of life on this planet would fare better if humans suddenly went away, and I was disagreeing with that.

If a person (not "the universe" ) cares about non-human life on this planet, they'd be fooling themselves to think that humans suddenly dying off would help non-human life.

[Ka-Dinh Oy]

31. There's a series called "Life After People" and it talks about how earth would heal itself after us.

It does a pretty good job of explaining what could possibly take place if we just disappeared.

[Silent3]

56. I've watched that series, and it's pretty good...

...but only one episode touched upon, and only lightly, problems with untended human technology, like mentioning a chlorine gas tanker eventually corroding and unleashing a toxic cloud.

There's tons of shit like that that would happen, and much worse, that they didn't cover, like untended nuclear reactors, or undersea drilling sites bursting open. Imagine something like the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe happening over and over again, with no one around to stop the flow of oil.

On the time scale of millions of years, of course the planet can recovery from all of that. But in the closer term of a few centuries to a few millennia, the planet would be much, much better off with a slow reduction in human population than a sudden disappearance.

[Disaffected]

41. My goodness.

Now that's egocentrism on steroids.

Besides, what is there to think that if humans died off another (perhaps more) intelligent species would not evolve (which hopefully would have more sense than us)?

In any case, nature really doesn't care much either way.

[Silent3]

54. Nothing to do with egocentrism

It's all about the ecological disasters that don't happen because of things that we've created, and continue to maintain.

Imagine all of the undersea oil drilling sites bursting open one after another over decades of human neglect, untended nuclear reactors, untended chemical tanks and silos and boxcars and tanker trucks, etc.

[Disaffected]

58. Fine, sudden die-off bad, gradual better (maybe - hard to predict the end result of either scernio).

However I was referring to the supposed imperative of humans establishing presence in other places bit (presumably Mars or the moon or whatever).

[Silent3]

59. What's particularly egocentric about wanting to expand beyond the Earth?

Which I expressed in terms of earthly life itself, not just human life. By the time "we" can effectively spread beyond this planet, if we manage that, it might not be humans (at least as we know humanity) that achieves this.

[Dial H For Hero]

33. One presumes you think that doesn't apply to yourself, of course.

[Coventina]

39. Of course I include myself. I fully intend to die. n/t

[Dial H For Hero]

48. As will we all regardless of our opinion on this matter. But you said you wanted to humanity itself

eradicated by "any means necessary". Suppose you could simply bush a button and every human on Earth would drop dead. Would you do it? If not, then you're contradicting yourself.

[Coventina]

49. I did not say "by any means necessary"

And no, I would not kill everyone on earth all at once.

I actually said I prefer that we die off, and by that I meant somewhat gradually. (But far more quickly than we currently are).
I'd be OK if humans numbered about 500 million or so.

Apologies if I did not make that clear.

[Dial H For Hero]

60. I apologize for misquoting you. You said "whatever it takes". Rather sloppy of me to get it wrong,

given that your post was upthread just a short distance away.

In any case thank you for clarifying your position.

[peggysue2]

17. Wow!

There's some really stupid shit being written these days. While the rest of the world worries about sustainability of the environment, food shortages and drought, Mr. Peter Coy would have us worry about those who do not exist. Abstract mind-noodling without concern for the people who do exist, those who scramble for a livelihood, for shelter, food, education for their kids, the basics.

I'd like to think this is satire but I don't get the vibe.

Love this:

The question of the ideal world population size may never be resolved by philosophers. But you don’t have to be a philosopher to think about the lives that never happened.


Really? LOL.

Philosopher or not, why would anyone waste time thinking about lives that never happened? Unless, of course, naval gazing is your thing.

Good grief!

Well, at least he pointed out Muzak should be capitalized.

(sigh)

[roamer65]

18. I remember reading somewhere that for everyone to have a European standard of living...

The population has to be reduced to around 2 billion.

Ehrlich apparently has arrived at that number as well.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/apr/26/world-population-resources-paul-ehrlich


The longer we deplete the planet, the lower that number goes...

[Duppers]

30. Exactly!

Thanks.

[Meowmee]

23. Must be a joke 😹

[smirkymonkey]

25. What?

That is so idiotic, it's painful.

[PlanetBev]

26. How lucky can you get?

If you’re never born, you’ll never have to listen to another Goli, Geico, Progressive or Liberty Mutual commercial.

[Crunchy Frog]

27. That article was as philosophically deep as Pinto in *Animal House*.

[Solly Mack]

28. That is so going to be my next exercise in woolgathering.

Solly, what are you thinking about?

Nothing.

(Or)

Solly, what are you thinking about?

The great void created by sperms that never bumped into an egg.

What void?

Exactly.


(I'm going to do it for the looks I'll get)

[betsuni]

32. "Every sperm is sacred" come to life.

Like being stuck in a room with guys who are philosophy majors (the condescending dumb ones).

[uriel1972]

34. Black Mambo's, French Ticklers...

[panader0]

45. Monty Python--Every sperm is precious:

[Raine]

35. What a pile of 💩 nt

[BlueStater]

36. Okay.

I’m thinking about how a couple of hundred serial killers and Republican politicians were never conceived and it puts a smile on my face.

[Wingus Dingus]

37. "The never-conceived are the ultimate forgotten ones"--

Can you be forgotten if you never existed? That's deep, man...

[JanMichael]

53. No shit. Dude where is my Sartre? nt

[Wednesdays]

38. I thought this would be from the Onion

The text could be used in one of those Keanu Reeves "what if" memes.

[KG]

42. it's business week - they really mean 'consumers' that will never exist

[hatrack]

43. This is some weapons-grade stupid . . . .

[skypilot]

44. Sigh. I thought this was from The Borowitz Report

*

[uriel1972]

46. This article...

Was ill-conceived 🙄

[Renew Deal]

47. There are pictures of the people that will never exist on this website

https://thispersondoesnotexist.com

[muriel_volestrangler]

51. There's always marketing: "SPARE A THOUGHT FOR THE BILLIONS OF SHELLS AND CHEESE THAT WILL NEVER GET

MADE" - reply from the official Velveeta account. Never let a dumb idea go to waste.

[JHB]

52. While we're at it, should we spare a thought for the billions lost at Alderaan?

They didn't exist either.

[Mad_Machine76]

55. This almost seems "Thanosian"

but in reverse LOL

[Tom Kitten]

57. This story reminded me of an old Peanuts comic

This story reminded me of an old Peanuts comic from 1970...

It's odd, googling for it I found a story just published a few hours ago carried by Time and Yahoo about how this particular strip changed Ronald Reagan's views on abortion.

It just seems like an odd coincidence...