Dana Hedberg wrote:
> >... And the main quality of life issue is just
> > whether life is worth living. I do want to create more lives worth living,
> > even if they are very poor. Of course if the life created would rather
> > commit suicide than continue, I'd rather not create that life.
>
>My question to you then, Robin, is how would you know for sure if the
>life you create would rather commit suicide than live, if you don't
>create that life first? Seems an unhappy paradox.
If one allows the life to actually commit suicide, that should limit,
though not eliminate, the hard done. And I'm willing to weigh the
chance of this harm against the positive value such a life might find.
Also, in the upload case I have a lot better basis for judging - I
basically get to ask if "I" would find my life worth living if I were
very poor.
Robin Hanson rhanson@gmu.edu http://hanson.gmu.edu
Asst. Prof. Economics, George Mason University
MSN 1D3, Carow Hall, Fairfax VA 22030
703-993-2326 FAX: 703-993-2323
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Oct 02 2000 - 17:34:57 MDT