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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Andrew Anthony

‘What if everybody decided not to have children?’ The philosopher questioning humanity’s future

The words GAME OVER superimposed on a pixellated, exploding globe, with scores for the pro-extinctionists and the longtermists beneath
Illustration by Observer Design. Illustration: Observer Design

Given all the suffering, pain and destruction produced by humanity, Émile Torres, who is a non-binary philosopher specialising in existential threats, thinks that it would not be a bad thing if humanity ceased to exist.

“The pro-extinctionist view,” they say, “immediately conjures up for a lot of people the image of a homicidal, ghoulish, sadistic maniac, but actually most pro-extinctionists would say that most ways of going extinct would be absolutely unacceptable. But what if everybody decided not to have children? I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

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