Existing may lead to pleasure, but there are clearly more downsides to existing. Why would anyone in their right mind ever decide to spawn in new children just so that they can go through school, wageslave for a few decades, then spend the last few yers of their lives immobile and in pain? I don't think that most people think about the philosophical implications of having children before they decide to breed, but even people who are aware of the arguments against producing new life still decide to. What are your thoughts on this?
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>be me
>try to start a philosophical discussion on Mainchan
>forgot that most users don't like to interact with the community and just consume content
>post "Mainbros, is not existing preferable to existing"
>lose 1 karma
>incentivizes people to stop trying to spark discussions
>decide to stop posting anything original and just repost content that is completely free of any thoughtfulness or meaning just to get a few karma
quite frankly, i think it's overly presumptuous to assume that no-one can derive more pleasure out of life than pain. Even the example you gave can be far more enjoyable than you give it credit for, depending on what kind of person experiences it. For all you know, someone in the position you described would find that kind of life worthwhile. Of course, that's all ignoring the sheer absurdity of acting as if a nonexistent entity could benefit from nonexistence, or that all of this is based off of the belief that pleasure and pain are solely what determines the morality of actions, something which i think is far from the truth.
Midas, after hunting, asked his captive Silenus somewhat urgently, what was the most desirable thing among humankind. At first he could offer no response, and was obstinately silent. At length, when Midas would not stop plaguing him, he erupted with these words, though very unwillingly: 'you, seed of an evil genius and precarious offspring of hard fortune, whose life is but for a day, why do you compel me to tell you those things of which it is better you should remain ignorant? For he lives with the least worry who knows not his misfortune; but for humans, the best for them is not to be born at all, not to partake of nature's excellence; not to be is best, for both sexes. This should be our choice, if choice we have; and the next to this is, when we are born, to die as soon as we can.'