Antinatalism has it all backwards

[LookingForAWhile]

[Not sure what category to post this under.]

In case you haven't heard of antinatalism, it's the belief that it is morally wrong or unjustifiable for people to have children. I used to be an antinatalist not too long ago, because I hated how imperfect this world is, and all the "suffering" in our world, including my own suffering. (Actually I didn't REALLY feel that way, I just felt pressured into it by people who feel like they're morally superior. "How DARE you not feel terrible about all the suffering in this world??!!" they would say.. No you jerk, I'm here to untangle my own problems first and foremost, and it's not my responsibility to worry about anyone else's. Guilt tripping can be a powerful thing.)

As I talked about in my intro, I've begun to realize that this world is probably a classroom, as someone else put it. I'm not here because I want to have a perfect world free of suffering, I'm here because I want to overcome all the challenges. And because of that, antinatalism comes off to me as a misguided way of thinking. Those people would rather not exist at all than to be provided an opportunity to overcome their challenges. It never made sense to me, and I'm done pretending it ever did.

Despite subscribing to antinatalism, it constantly nagged at my brain. How could existence be inherently evil? The logical conclusion of antinatalism is that no human being should be born at all, because life is inherently imperfect and full of suffering. And not to mention, the biggest argument for antinatalism is that we can't consent to being born - that we didn't choose to be here. I could not resolve this matter in my head whatsoever.

However, as I've stated in my intro, I believe I have a higher being, and my higher being chose to be here on this Earth. My higher being chose to have imperfect parents. Antinatalists despise parents, or people they refer to as "breeders." I despised my own parents for the longest time. But no more. Antinatalists would probably say I'm living in denial, or experiencing cognitive dissonance or whatever, but oh well. Time will tell.

Of course I can't PROVE that I have a higher being (like I said, it's just a belief.) We live in a material world after all, dominated by a scientific, materialistic narrative which does not allow for any concept such as a higher being (at least according to materialists). This material world is all there is, at least according to our 5 senses. So how could I possibly have a higher being that chose to be born? That's why they say that no one chooses to be born, that no one consents to being born, and therefore procreating is bad. That's what you get when you have a purely materialistic viewpoint. How utterly baffling and depressing. Materialism is the ultimate consciousness trap.

But I've also realized that it's not my business to try convincing people. If that's how they want to think, then that's on them. The more you argue, the more power you give them.

 

[Ina]

I agree with all that you said..... Materialist philosophy seems to have replaced even the religion, so much so that the latest congress of religious leaders considered creating a new One Religion for the majority of the faiths called Chrislam.
The last 50 years have been artificially brought fast forward by increased diversification, specialization and volume of information collection however combined with general superficiality and trivialization of individual practical human use. It is indeed sad and depressing however, that the breath, width and scope of the information has brought the systems of our civilization in the situation of offering for the human use only the extreme values often starting with the negative part of the spectrum the FROMs, usually presented as current generalized hence general reality, and seemingly never reaching the TOs thought as random outliers or anomalies that are not worth mentioning.
On that background, the most prevalent reaction is of moral nature, which embeds a high dose of 'realism' in fact pessimism combined with ignorant , by design, self aggrandisment. That explains the wokeism, cancel culture, and last but not least antinatalism, which I can see has allready got to the level of ism in your geo-eco-political space.
Good news. No mater how real and wide-spread you feel it might be, it is not. People still have babies and are happy to do everything to raise them healthy in mind and body.

Now, WRT higher being, all I can say is, that if you think of higher there must be something that might be considered lower.... What if, you were four distinct parts that blend and conjoin however having different roles and functions during your life, awake and sleeping and death or after life with all its stages, all with the purpose of learning for spiritual advancement?
Is it that there is no need for proof? ... proof is in the pudding.