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[Closed] Are you glad you were born?

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I ask, because this guy is suing his parents for bringing him into the world - which I find inconceivable?
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2019/feb/05/consent-being-born-man-suing-parents-for-giving-birth-to-him


 
Posted : 05/02/2019 10:24 pm
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Attention seeker in seeking attention shocker...


 
Posted : 05/02/2019 10:32 pm
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Saw that earlier. Nuts!

Apparently the number of late teens saying life has no purpose has doubled in last few years.

Me I'm glad I was born, I'm not always sure I feel the same about everyone else but that's a very different philosophical question!


 
Posted : 05/02/2019 10:33 pm
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A very good friend of mine always says that if there were a button he could press and it would mean he had never existed then he would press it. He's unwavering on that.


 
Posted : 05/02/2019 10:41 pm
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Glad I was born. Tired of it all now though.


 
Posted : 05/02/2019 10:45 pm
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#1 - don’t be a dick


 
Posted : 05/02/2019 10:45 pm
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Really?? Children born into conflict, famine or worse. ...get a grip!


 
Posted : 05/02/2019 10:47 pm
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I ask, because this guy is suing his parents for bringing him into the world – which I find inconceivable?

No it's the fact that he was conceived that's the problem.

IGMC


 
Posted : 05/02/2019 10:48 pm
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Some people just don’t feel they fit in, that’s understandable given the preconditions humans are handed and expected to live by.

Its crossed my mind on more than one occasion, pushing “that” button.

As for suing Parents? It’s a difficult one to quantify given each individual circumstance is indeed individual.


 
Posted : 05/02/2019 10:48 pm
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"created without his consent"

This world is stuffed


 
Posted : 05/02/2019 10:49 pm
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Are his parents allowed to go back on their mistake without legal repercussions?


 
Posted : 05/02/2019 11:00 pm
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His parents should do some post-natal family planning.


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 12:58 am
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His parents should do some post-natal family planning.

Is that with the most modern technology epicyclo? A flintlock as opposed to a matchlock musket.😏


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 1:05 am
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As opposed to what? Grown in a vat? Don't actually remember that far back, but I'm not sure it matters really.

So if the actual question is 'am I glad I'm here?' that's easier to answer: no. I'm on a train to London ffs, and would much rather be waking up in my bed.

If the real question is 'am I glad I exist generally?', this hinges on what I mean by 'I': me today? Tomorrow? Twenty years ago? Can't change that, and can't change that I won't exist in 50 years time. But yeah, happy enough to have had a little proddle about. We're bloody mayflies, as Alan Clarke railled somewhere towards the end of his diaries.

Anyway, I'd say the guy suing his parents is doing that as the person he is now, and it's not his parents' fault he's that person. Case dismissed.


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 9:32 am
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It's in my nature to want to exist, and to continue to exist, otherwise I'd just curl up and die in a corner somewhere.

If I'd never existed though, I wouldn't give a crap as... I wouldn't exist.

Avdave2's mate's button is actually quite an interesting proposition. If I don't push it, I'll continue to experience life, be it good or bad. For a while, at least. If I do push it, I won't exist, so I won't be around to care.


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 10:27 am
 DezB
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After getting a puncture on the commute this morning, which I fixed, then my pump died while I was trying to get air in the tyre, no, I'm rather pissed off to be alive. How my life turned out so shitty this morning is no fault of my parents though. They certainly wanted better for me. The past 40odd years of shite has been all my own fault.
OP's bloke needs a few good, hard slaps.


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 10:53 am
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Antinatalist!!


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 11:01 am
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Apparently the number of late teens saying life has no purpose has doubled in last few years.

I'm really not surprised, we get that a bit from our Teen.

It's probably a bit lazy to blame social media, my parents blames my NES and my Grand Parents blamed the TV and my Great Grand Parents Blamed the Radio (No doubt) but this generation seems to have it pretty tough when it comes to that crushing point in your young life when you come to terms with the fact that you're 'just' a normal person.


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 11:21 am
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Yes I’m glad I was born. I’m so glad I can’t properly put it into words. I have a massive problem with knowing I won’t be here forever; my earliest memory is a full on tantrum when my dad told me that everyone eventually dies.

That we live then die has never made me wish I’d never lived. That’s just daft. Yes things could often be better, but being alive is the absolute pinnacle for me - I love it.


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 11:25 am
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I don’t like having asthma though!


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 11:26 am
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“I love my parents,” he writes on Facebook, “and we have a great relationship, but they had me for their joy and their pleasure.”

OP’s bloke needs a few good, hard slaps.

Couldn't agree more. "joy and pleasure" maybe, generally people have children because, despite what we think, we're not in charge of our mind, or mind is in charge of us and it's hardwired to reproduce. Having children is great at times, but for the most part you give up a lot of "joy and pleasure" to give to them.


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 11:30 am
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A very good friend of mine always says that if there were a button he could press and it would mean he had never existed then he would press it. He’s unwavering on that.

Very much this.


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 11:31 am
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A very good friend of mine always says that if there were a button he could press and it would mean he had never existed then he would press it. He’s unwavering on that.

That would be useful. I wouldn't press it now, but maybe later in life when I'm old, knackered and useless. Probably when I can't wipe my own backside anymore.


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 11:33 am
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^^^ mildred pretty much sums it up for me. I've never, ever, not wanted to be alive.

I might sue my parents for the random combination of genes that has made me short and bald though, the b*stards. I specifically asked to be tall, dark and handsome 🙂


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 11:33 am
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this is all well and good from a philosophical perspective, but what does he hope to achieve my suing his parents? what redress can be given?


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 11:34 am
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I had a new pair of socks on this morning, so today is a good day to be alive.

Surely procreation is our main basic purpose as a species, to further our DNA? At the most basic level we're doing the same as all the other species on the planet, only they don't put some higher meaning behind it like we try to.


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 11:36 am
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Are you glad you were born?

i never realised there was a pre birth opt out option


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 11:40 am
 geex
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Apparently the number of late teens saying life has no purpose has doubled in last few years.

Fair enough. There is no purpose.
it can however be a lot of fun.
shame so many kids these days struggle with that.


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 11:44 am
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Hell yes I'm glad I was born. Life isn't always a bed of roses, but I feel very sorry for anyone who wouldn't answer the same way after a bit of reflection.


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 11:45 am
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what redress can be given?

The right to die? If he takes them to the the cleaners financially, would he avoid inheritance tax?


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 11:48 am
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Sam Harris podcast in which he has a guy on who argues for the anti-natalist position.


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 11:57 am
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Every interaction is an opportunity for me to demonstrate what I can achieve, and if I wasn't alive then I'd have no interactions. I LOVE being alive! Laaaaaaahhhhh


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 12:02 pm
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I'm pretty apathetic about being alive, I've no desire to have kids and can't say I do anything beneficial for society other than paying taxes so don't really have a purpose in life as such. I know I have an easier life than a lot of people so not complaining, it just all seems a bit pointless without any real goals and the thought of growing old and decrepit (assuming I don't die early :p ) isn't much to look forward to.

I admire the people that try to live each day like it's their last but I'd be broke and homeless in a week if I did that. I haven't yet found a hobby/interest that I care about enough to want to do it regularly.


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 12:03 pm
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50:50

and today/this week/this month* is a good time

*delete as appropriate


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 12:04 pm
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My in-laws would tell the story of good friends that they had in 60s.
They decided to not have any children as they truly believed a nuclear war was coming.
In later years they regretted this choice and adopted two children.

"There's nowt so queer as folk"


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 12:13 pm
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Had a bit of angst as a teen that carried through into twenties, so wasn't glad then, life has a lot more meaning now I have kids (toddler and newborn) of my own to look after.


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 12:14 pm
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A very good friend of mine always says that if there were a button he could press and it would mean he had never existed then he would press it. He’s unwavering on that.

There are many simple ways to achieve something very similar to that.


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 12:34 pm
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I'm pretty happy to be alive and also happy about the period I have lived through (even though that means I'm getting close to the end of my allotted span). I do think as a child and an adolescent I had things much easier that today's kids. We had fewer gadgets but I had a bike and very little pressure to perform. I shall be retiring soon. I won't be exactly well off but I've got a roof over my head, should be able to put food on the table and spend more time on my, fairly inexpensive, hobbies.


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 12:38 pm
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It's OK I suppose but I wouldn't have felt disappointed if I'd not been born.


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 12:49 pm
 DezB
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if there were a button he could press and it would mean he had never existed then he would press it.

Big difference between that and topping yourself (as outofbreath appears to suggest) - all the things you've done in your life wouldn't exist either... too big to think about (and too silly)... but at least you wouldn't leave any grieving family.


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 1:01 pm
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Big difference between that and topping yourself (as outofbreath appears to suggest) – all the things you’ve done in your life wouldn’t exist either…

I was thinking it was a pretty good approximation but good point - Topping yourself doesn't erase anything bad that you've done and could leave a grieving family.


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 1:09 pm
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we’re not in charge of our mind, or mind is in charge of us and it’s hardwired to reproduce.

Erm, I counter that by saying You are totally in charge of your mind and your actions. You aren’t a Puppet.

And we’re not hard wired to reproduce either. Otherwise those that choose to not have children (me) would be unable to choose not too.

That logic has had plenty of research and tomes written about this subject, and plenty of evidence to suggest the human mind is individual and there are no pre-existing conditions other than breathing and functioning to support itself from birth. Thereafter it is subject to social conditioning and it’s own reasoning decisions.


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 1:20 pm
 geex
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And we’re not hard wired to reproduce either. Otherwise those that choose to not have children (me) would be unable to choose not too.

eh?
As a male who's shagged more women (more frequently) than most that choice was not always my own.
I'm hardwired to ****.
it's one of the few things i'm naturally good at.


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 2:16 pm
 DezB
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It's rare, but some things make me so wish I was born female.


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 2:25 pm
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#1 – don’t be a dick

I'm definitely gonna have to sue my parents then


 
Posted : 06/02/2019 2:41 pm
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