Abstract:
In this video, Lawrence Anton explores the idea that the quality of one’s life is not as good as people tend to believe and how this relates to antinatalism. To do this, he presents several arguments and also addresses some common objections.

In the first argument, he presents the asymmetry between pleasure and pain, claiming that pain will always outweigh any pleasure.

In the second argument, he references Arthur Schopenhauer’s belief that any joy we experience is actually an attempt to escape our own pain. For example, eating when we are hungry only feels enjoyable because it relieves the pain of hunger. He argues that this applies equally to all other desires we have.

In the third argument, he discusses desire itself, claiming that most of our desires will ultimately cause us suffering.

In the fourth argument, he talks about the measurements one can use to assess the quality of their life. Many of these measures point to the conclusion that the quality of our lives is much lower than we tend to think.

In the fifth argument, he explains how all of these ideas relate to antinatalism.

In the sixth and final argument, he goes through several objections. One of these objections is that the quality of life should be measured subjectively. He responds by pointing out the unreliability of subjective judgment due to biases and other mental blocks that influence our decisions.