Parfit talks about the non identity problem in his chapter. Throughout the chapter he brings up to Risky Path and how people view it morally. He then asks if the moral values would change if the outcome was known. I truly do believe if the outcome of a certain event was known most people might change what they do or how they view a decision. Parfit's article then poses the question, would it be bad if there were no future people? The answer to that in my opinion is yes. The world population would decline and the planet would eventually fall apart. Generations and legacies make life interesting and bring knowledge. In life there are bad events and traumas that the victims of it might regret, but in the end people adapt to change. I personally believe everything happens for a reason and figuring out why may always be a calling, but it does bring life experience and make a person mentally stronger. I also believe that if a certain event outcome didn't happen due to a change it would eventually happen to another group of people just like Parfit says. The universe has to create a balance and people have to be unique to make the world a diverse and interesting place. However for some events such as natural disasters and pandemics, it would be nice to know the outcome so the events leading up to it could of been changed so it was prevented.
Like you I also believe that things happen for a reason, good or bad. My perspective on the article was a bit different. To me, I didn't see having no future people as a bad thing, as long as the reason they can't exists isn't from our wrongdoings, if that makes sense. For example, if tasks that we carry out in our daily life are contributing to the negative effects of climate change, then I would say that yes this is a bad thing. But if nature just decides to have there be no more people after our generation- I can't personally see that is being bad. If we are not able to fix the problem then I suppose what ever ends up happening is what was supposed to be. Although, I do see your point of view. I like how you said that if an event outcome doesn't happen to us due to some unknown change, it will happen to a different generation. I believe, like you, that the universe does have to create balance. How the universe determines that I don't know, but I think looking more into that would be an interesting study.
ReplyDeleteIt is a very good point that generations and legacies make life interesting. Personally, I do not understand the opinion that it is okay to not have future people. What would be the point of everything that we do if there was no future?
ReplyDeleteHey Kacie, after reading Parfit's article and your blog post, I also agree with you on the fact that if a decision's outcome was known to have a negative effect on people's lives in the future, then we should definitely do all in our power to make sure that doesn't happen. I also am a strong believer in the fact that everything happens for a reason. Going off of what you mentioned about the planet falling apart due to our in-existence, I think that once this were to happen would mean that it really is the Earth's time. Everything in my opinion has an expiration date, and we just have to go with life's flow.
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