Apologies for the lack of posting. I’ve been busy (I haven’t had a day off work since Feb 19th) and anxiety and asthma have been kicking my ass (actually ended up calling an ambulance on Friday because I was having trouble breathing, although fortunately I didn’t need to be hospitalised.)
[Epistemic Status: This is not anything even approaching Real Philosophy. This is trying not to go crazy and is probably insufficiently rigorous for anyone who wants a serious discussion about solving the Repugnant Conclusion.]
[content warnings: pregnancy, the repugnant conclusion, scrupulosity]
Recent badbrains have been heavily focussed on the idea that I have to accept the repugnant conclusion, and therefore should be actively striving to increase the global population, and therefore “you are committing murder by not having as many babies as possible! If you can create one life-worth-living every year, you should do that, even though it will make your own life not worth living. It’s MATHEMATICS.” It’s not mathematics. It’s bullshit. (There was a 1000 word rant here. It was deleted.)
So, the best solution to badbrains is always Hamilton! parody raps. For clarification JESUS BRAIN = the impulse to destroy myself in the name of altruism, SATAN BRAIN = the impulse to “secure your own oxygen mask before helping others.” This is a parody of Cabinet Battle #2
ME: The issue on the table: creating new lives increases total utility. Do we have an obligation to make them, or can we stay out of it? Remember, my decision on the matter in not subject to ingroup approval. The only person you have to convince is me. Jesus Brain, you have the floor.
JESUS BRAIN: We have a duty to help the needy
To give of ourselves completely, not be greedy
If we agree that happiness is good
Should we make more of it? Of course we should.
Since we’re too stupid to make a living,
Doing direct work or earning for giving,
We should make the world better by being a surrogate mother
And pregnancy is messy but now is the time to suffer
Suffer in the name of increased total utility
Your sense of self-preservation is here and she would rather not have this debate
She just wants to eat cake all day and masturbate
She has disgusting moral foundations like loyalty
Fairness, and liberty; pampered and spoilt she
Should have remained in miserable Christianity
Everything she ever does betrays humanity
And if you don’t know, now you know, overarching concept of self
ME: Thank you, Jesus Brain. Satan Brain, your response.
SATAN BRAIN: You must be outta your goddamn mind if you insist
We have ethical duties towards those who don’t exist
Should I get chained to violinists if they’d grow up to be happy?
Fuck no! That would make my own life crappy.
Why don’t we ask the babies inside our imagination
Whether they’re a source of real moral obligation?
Is only caring about real human beings heretical?
“Um… do whatever you want, we’re hypothetical!”
ME: Enough! Satan Brain is right!
JESUS BRAIN: But babies –
ME: Imaginary babies don’t have rights
JESUS BRAIN: But don’t we value happy lives?
ME: Yeah. Of people who are actually alive.
JESUS BRAIN: We were once hypothetical
ME: Yeah, and now we’re not
There’s a difference: that’s something you forgot
I refuse to live a joyless life of endless toil
Satan Brain,
SATAN BRAIN: Ma’am?
ME: Let’s get a Merina Coil
unlent 