r/UniversalExtinction

Why having kids is evil; an evolutionary thesis of evil

Neuropsychologists and ethologists have widely distinguished between two primary forms of aggression: Predatory aggression and reactive aggression.

Reactive aggression is characterized by hyper-limbic activation (activation of the emotional parts of the brain). Species that have been prey animals and animals which compete within a social hierarchy (which includes us) have evolved reactive aggression as a mechanism to either defend against predatory assault or defend status. A good example of reactive aggression in human beings is a man hitting his spouse after a particularly nasty comment. It's emotional, raw, and done in anger. There are many species that have evolved highly limited degrees of reactive aggression. Examples include Manatees and Bonobos. They're very hard to piss off and quite friendly. Manatees for example have no natural weapons. They have no sharp teeth, blunt objects, etc on their body. They're very chill.

Predatory aggression is characterized by hypo-limbic activation (quieting of the emotional parts of the brain). Species that have had the problem of having to hunt (which includes us) have evolved predatory aggression as a mechanism to reflexively kill and chase prey animals. An example of predatory aggression in human beings would be threatening to shoot someone while robbing a bank if they do not comply. It's cold, calculated, pre-meditated, reflexive, and goal-oriented. A zeroing in on a prey. There are many species without any predatory aggression at all. Rabbits for example. They aren't even tempted to swat a fly.

The reason why us being mammals is interesting is because as mammals we are also evolved to display what is known as maternal solicitude which is the deep concern and compassion a mother has for an infant. There are species with virtually no maternal solicitude like for example crabs. They even eat their infants. It makes sense that predatory aggression and maternal solicitude (as neurological functions) would inhibit (stop) one another as a neurological function. A species that could spontaneously go from grooming their cooing infant to punching it in the face repeatedly wouldn't survive very long,

It also makes sense that different organisms vary at an individual basis in their expression of maternal solicitude and predatory aggression. Male grizzly bears are so predatory that they have no problem straight up killing cubs in order to copulate with the women and then they completely avoid the cubs. Dimorphism is the most common expression (difference between sexes) of variation in predatory aggression. Although human males are considerably more maternal than grizzly bears, they are nonetheless more predator-like than human females. That might explain why the vast majority of instances of animal abuse for entertainment is committed by men.

It makes sense that individual variation exists even within the male sex. Some guys are chill and nice. They're not very predatory or reactive. Other guys are very hostile. They're just fuming with anger and chronically burdened by violent thoughts. These are the men who are substantially higher in reactive aggression. There are also guys that are self-centered and narcissistic. They don't feel concern for others, don't really pursue long-term relationships and are manipulative and cunning. They'll screw someone over or even physically assault someone reflexively without much thought. These are the men who are substantially higher in predatory aggression.

All in all individual variation contributes substantially less to moral catastrophes than sociocultural influence with respect to the expression of predatory aggression and reactive aggression. For example, one person who is six standard deviations above the mean in predatory aggression might be the serial killer with a kill count of 100. That is an illustration of genetic overdetermination and it contributes to a substantial minority of severe instances of morally horrendous behavior.

Then you have something like the holocaust. Ordinary people participated in it and therefore we can reasonably assume that those people represent the median for aggression. Things like economics, indoctrination, strong sense of tribal affiliation, and bureaucratic genericism conjured an environment whereby suddenly there is a strong sociocultural incentive for an ordinary man to pour a cannister down a tube and choke a small naked child to death for upwards of twenty minutes as the capillaries in their lungs which is what happened in the gas chambers. His expression of predatory aggression therefore was substantially expanded due to cultural influence. He himself may have been typical or only slightly above average in predatory aggression and possibly even engaged in that behavior with reticence or disgust. A smaller example is prison. You have to prove you're a tough son of a bitch in order to survive. In evolutionary terms, you have to consciously modulate your expression of predatory aggression by hyping yourself up, acting in a macho way, being more crude, blunting your sense of emotional response around extreme violence, etc.

In this way the human species could be viewed as a dynamically entropic catastrophe. A tsunami or an earthquake. All it takes is the right combination of triggers for us to transform into the most bestial and callous entities imaginable and far surpassing the destructive capacity of any natural disaster. It isn't a problem with men, capitalism, politics, etc. The human person is a predator. They very well could have been as docile as a rabbit or some other species without these underlying mechanisms but we aren't. Anyone who contributes to this roiling wave of disaster is a monster and is engaging in the worst kind of cruelty.

Sources:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/predatory-aggression

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4260506/

https://journals.copmadrid.org/apj/art/j.apj.2016.03.001

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/403225935_Neuroscience_of_Reactive_versus_Instrumental_Violent_Offenders

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12208620/

https://media.springernature.com/original/springer-static/esm/art%3A10.1038%2Fs41586-026-10354-5/MediaObjects/41586_2026_10354_MOESM4_ESM.pdf

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u/Designer-Photo-8840 — 6 days ago

There is HOPE for the majority to adopt extinctionism. THIS is why!!!

WOW, Existentialism is LESS THAN 200 Years old.

Extinctionism/Antinatalism are EVEN more recent, maybe less than 50 years.

Which means it is still POSSIBLE for the majority to adopt some form of Anti-Life moral ideal in the future.

DEMOCRATIC EXTINCTION WINS!!! lol

Maybe give it 300 years or less, when climate change and other crazy disasters make life on Earth so bad that it becomes HOPELESS for most people.

hehehehe.

I am impartial, just an observer of existence, but this possibility is quite interesting, is it not? Time will tell.

HOWEVER......it is ALSO possible that humans may invent some form of immortality, create a self spreading AI species or even merge with AI (Praise Omnissiah!!! and become an eternal sentient that cannot feel pain/suffering or die. GASP!!!

Either way, this is GOOD NEWS, right? Kinda. lol

Either we DEMOCRATICALLY go extinct in 300 years OR we become immortal cyber sapienZ that will always be happy or some shyt. lol

Source:

Existentialism traces its conceptual roots to the 19th century in the writings of Søren Kierkegaard (around 1841) and Friedrich Nietzsche (around 1878), while the full movement and name came together in mid-20th-century France after World War II. [1, 2]

Key Timeline of Events

  • 19th Century (Roots): Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard and German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche laid the philosophical groundwork by focusing on individual choice, personal responsibility, and a lack of pre-determined meaning. [1, 2]
  • Mid-1940s (Naming): The French Catholic philosopher Gabriel Marcel coined the term "existentialism" around 1943–1945. [1, 2]
  • October 29, 1945 (Popularization): French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre publicly adopted the label during a famous lecture in Paris called Existentialism Is a Humanism, launching it into a global intellectual movement. [1]
  • Post-World War II (Peak): The movement surged in popularity as writers and thinkers like Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Albert Camus used literature and essays to address human freedom, anxiety, and the absurdity of life in the wake of World War II. [1, 2]
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u/PitifulEar3303 — 6 days ago

Let's be honest about WHY most people DON'T want extinction, ok?

It's not because they are mindless, stupid, primitive, animalistic breeders.

It's not because they are immoral bastards.

It's not because they don't know anything about the reality of life, including the risk of suffering, the tyranny of luck, and inevitable death.

Don't tell me most people still don't understand how life/reality works after 200 thousand years of humanity, lol.

They KNOW, but they still want life, still reject extinction. Why?

Well, according to my research, it's because.............the SEXPERIENCE is......lol.......just joking, ok?

Ok, let's get serious.

It's because the EXPERIENCE of life is generally "good" enough for them to "want" more life, despite the struggles and other harmful stuff. This is the HONEST truth about most people and how they feel about life.

Most people simply don't live in literal hell, and due to evolutionary biology (selecting for psychologically resilient genes), this is enough "goodness" to keep them going and ask for more 'life".

They may complain about shyt when things get tough, but statistically speaking, they still "FEEL" good enough to want more life.

Simply put.....it's their NATURE. hehehe

They will only reject life when conditions get EXTREMELY bad and hopeless, personally.

Wait...........does this mean...........those who reject life, despite living in relatively "good" conditions, are NOT natural?

NO, lol, that's not how "nature" works. Nature INCLUDES both the norm (majority) AND the rare (minority). In fact, evolution is all about the rare that survived selection to become the norm. That's how life went from a majority of a single-cell "norm" to a multicellular "norm".

We are ALL "natural", even those who reject life.

So the important question becomes...........will the rejection of life become the norm of the majority in the future? The answer is........No idea. lol

Because nature selects for perpetuation of life, we have not seen any evidence for the selection of features that favor termination of life. lol

BUT, fret not, my fellow life rejectors, hehehe, because there is ONE Donald Trump card left to play. One card that nature couldn't account for........the card of TECHNOLOGY.

Even if the majority never evolved to reject life, it is still quite possible for future tech (AI, nanobots, particle physics, etc.) to "Grant" us the ability to THANOS life into extinction. lol

And it does not require the majority agreement to happen. Just enough powerful world-ending tech and "some" people who are willing to use it.

Heck, it may not even be Antinatalists/Extinctionists who use it, because humanity has many nutty minorities with "world-ending" goals, including religious ones. (e.g., the evangelicals).

TLDR; most people reject extinction and prefer life because it's their nature + the condition of life is not bad enough. Some people prefer extinction because it's also their nature, regardless of life's condition. Both are natural and valid feelings.

Wait.................

However..............

Technology is unpredictable and many-sided, with many possible paths. It is ALSO possible that humans (with the help of AI) may invent ways to live FOREVER, and even disable our ability to feel pain/suffering, both physical and mental.

This means, at least, "Some" humans may end up becoming happy immortals after merging with AI using nanobots or whatever, spreading across the universe like viruses. lol

Ending remarks:

Regardless, it is in BOTH our NATURE to WANT life and REJECT life. We can't help it. The tyranny of determinism controls our feelings like puppets.

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u/PitifulEar3303 — 8 days ago

If someone is about to succeed in inventing immortality AND a way to remove our ability to feel pain/suffering.........would YOU stop them?

This is basically the opposite of "Would you stop someone if they were about to invent a doomsday device and cause the extinction of life?"

Most natalists and "regular" people would say yes, that's just their nature to reject extinction.

But what if this question becomes "Would you stop someone if they were about to invent immortality and remove our ability to feel pain/suffering?"

What would anti-life people say to this?

Stop them or let them succeed?

reddit.com
u/PitifulEar3303 — 7 days ago

How Important Is Experiencing Suffering for Caring About Suffering? - Brian Tomasik

>Several leading advocates for reducing others' suffering are passionate about the cause in part because they've suffered so much themselves. Should we fear that as technologically advanced individuals suffer less, they'll care less about the suffering of the weak and powerless? Or will less personal suffering give them more emotional capacity and sensitivity to care about all sentient beings? In addition to raising these questions, I also speculate on the implications of suffering as portrayed in the media.

reducing-suffering.org
u/Inside-Weather4033 — 8 days ago