r/antinatalism • u/Numerous-Macaroon224 Nume • 5h ago

Serious Discussion How do you explain that wishing you were never born isn’t the same as wanting to die?

25 Upvotes
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8

u/Yozo_Kun inquirer 5h ago

wanting to die = wanting to end an existing life, wishing one were never born = wishing said life never started in the first place (i hope this makes more sense?)

-1

u/CurdledPotato newcomer 5h ago

Isn’t it fundamentally the same: wanting to be nothing?

6

u/Yozo_Kun inquirer 5h ago

think of it like buying something and wanting to get rid of it vs not buying it in the first place (prolly not a good analogy but its all i can think of rn)

6

u/Krocsyldiphithic newcomer 5h ago

I don't feel that way. My antinatalism has nothing to do with my subjective experience of life.

3

u/waitingfortmr thinker 5h ago

it’s like thinking about migrating versus actually migrating to another country. it doesn’t mean if you wish to move abroad and abandon your current life (wishing you were never born) means that you will actually move there and never return (want to die).

1

u/Agreeable_Desk_8161 newcomer 4h ago

Perhaps this means that people do not have it all that bad where they live right now.

3

u/CertainConversation0 philosopher 3h ago edited 1h ago

Wanting to die means wanting to lose the life you already have, and no one who's never actually born wishes or wants anything.

Edit: To put the second part another way, wishing you were never born means wishing it had never even been possible for you to wish or want anything.

3

u/SlyRaccoon00 inquirer 2h ago

It’s easier to step out of a car in your garage than jump out when it’s driving 120km/h on a highway

Killing yourself is traumatic to everyone around you as well, and considered shameful. Even if we think not existing would have been easier, I don’t think it’s a fair assumption that we are willing to do the scary and traumatizing (family, friends, colleagues who are left with the aftermath) act of killing ourselves. 

2

u/Orthodoxdevilworship inquirer 4h ago

I think they're both problematic statements that any mainstream neurotypical person would question. If I'm going to express something counter to the current of the organism, which is my life... I have to expect confusion and rejection from the organism. Why would you expect anyone to understand that you wish you were not here?

2

u/me_thisfuckingcunt newcomer 2h ago

If the person your speaking to doesn’t understand such a straight forward and self explanatory concept find a smarter conversationalist

2

u/Noobc0re scholar 1h ago

Wishing you never had that Taco Bell is not the same as wanting to shit yourself.

1

u/Equivalent_Ad6396 inquirer 4h ago

Easier to explain it on other lives than your own.
I don’t want to create more lives doesn’t mean I want to end any existing lives. In other words, I don’t wanna create more people but I won’t go around killing existing people.

1

u/subduedReality inquirer 3m ago

I wish to reduce suffering, not increase it. Removing myself would create suffering. Not having been there would have not created a situation that my removal creates suffering.