Almost every single thing we do in life is about solving problems.

There are problems in our personal lives. For example, hunger is a problem. How do you solve it? Grab a snack. Fatigue is a problem. How do you solve it? Get some sleep. Loneliness is a problem. How do you solve it? Make a friend.

There are problems in society. Poverty. How do you solve it? Start a charity or government program. Pollution. How do you solve it? Pass new environmental laws.

I could go on, but you get the idea.

Think about how many problems you solved, or attempted to solve, in the past 24 hours. If you take the time to meticulously count each one, I’m sure you’ll end up with a number in the hundreds or thousands. That’s a lot of problems.

Humans dislike problems, so we try to devise efficient and comprehensive solutions. Great solutions mean fewer problems in the future. For example: getting from point A to B is a problem. A horse-drawn carriage solves this problem, but a car is a more efficient and comprehensive solution. Technology, from the automobile to the computer to the smartphone, is all about efficient, comprehensive solutions to problems.

The beliefs that humans hold – religious, political, philosophical – are about problem solving too. Fear of dying is a problem. You can solve it by believing in an eternal afterlife.

Now, how does this relate to antinatalism? It’s simple. The goal of every religious, political, and philosophical worldview is to solve problems, but only one – antinatalism – successfully solves every problem. Christianity may solve problems A, B, and C, but it ignores millions of other problems (and creates a few new ones as well). Same for Islam and Buddhism. Same for socialism and capitalism. Same for existentialism and stoicism.

Antinatalism, on the other hand, leaves no problem unsolved. It’s efficient and comprehensive. Problems only exist because living creatures with needs exist. If these creatures disappear, all of the problems disappear too.

Most humans have an innate desire to solve problems. If antinatalism is described in this way – as the the ultimate problem solving mechanism – perhaps we can convert a few new people to our ideology.

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