Discontinuation
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Hello, I am Andrew Truelove. This page is about my new philosophy, Discontinuation. But before you read this, please visit the Pick a Side: For or Against all Religion/Supernaturalism page first. It is a side-project I wanted to do; it's a voluntary list of all those who are either for or against religion/supernaturalism. Please see that page for more info.
The name Discontinuation refers to the discontinuing of the human species. The philosophy of Discontinuation is not new, but I'm the first person to give it a name and (hopefully) start a movement for it.
Discontinuation is the belief that life is meaningless, but humans crave meaning in life; therefore life for a conscious human brain is a tragedy and should be stopped. Being a Discontinuist means that you choose to never have children for this aforementioned reason. It means you want to spread this message to others as well; I hope many Discontinuists become missionaries for the belief.
Why Discontinue the human race?
- DEATH/Meaninglessness: The NUMBER ONE REASON for Discontinuation is that it is inhumane to bring humans into a meaningless world (meaningless partly has to do with the fact that death is at the end of life (death is eternal extinction of the individual). Death/meaninglessness of life is the primary reason behind Discontinuation. Of course, there are lesser reasons people have for Discontinuing our species:
- Life is painful: yes, life is painful and sucky, and so some people don't want to bring humans into a sucky world. But this reason pales behind the number one reason above. I mean, even if Suzy is born into a rich family and lives in their mansion all her life and never feels pain, she will die at the end of her life, nullifying that comfortable pain-free life. So this reason is far weaker than the number one reason above.
- Humans are evil, despicable creatures: some people want to end our species because we are evil and despicable. I call these people Evil-Hating Non-Procreators (EHNPs). This reason, like #2 above, is weaker than #1- so weak it is almost irrelevant.
- The environment: some environmentalists (most notably the Volunteer Human Extinction Movement (http://www.vhemt.org/) want to end our species so we will stop hurting the environment. I disagree with this philosphy, and I think it's hopeless- most people won't buy into it or care enough about the environment- but hey, non-procreators are my allies, even if they aren't Discontinuists. If you are a VHEMTer, please add your name to the List of VHEMTers.
If you agree with one or more of the first three reasons above, you are a Discontinuist. If you agree with the last reason, you are a VHEMTer. If you don't agree with any of those reasons, but still are never going to have children, you are a Discontinuist Ally.
See also: My reasons for being a Discontinuist.
The idea behind Discontinuation is not new; the philosopher Peter Wessel Zapffe championed the idea in the 1930s. I however came up with the idea independently of Zapffe (who's now dead); I figured out the idea in August 2006, and it wasn't until December that I learned of Zapffe.
Now, I'm moving to England, where I will share the idea with Richard Dawkins and the members of the Bright Society. Hopefully I can convert Dawkins (or some other rich and/or influential person, like a billionaire or celebrity or religious leader), and thus the idea will get publicity.
The Discontinuist movement is much like the New Atheist movement and the gay rights movement- by giving the idea a name, becoming it's founder and spokesperson, and starting a growing movement, I hope that many will not fear 'coming out of the closet' and admitting they believe the same thing. It's hard for people (even in scientific and academic communities) to admit Atheism, and even harder for them to admit Discontinuist beliefs. It makes an adult feel less wise, intelligent, and moral. I hope this movement will give them the courage to say goodbye to social groups and join Discontinuation.
Please see the List of Discontinuists page to voluntarily add your name to the list of people who believe in Discontinuation. Please don't add fake names, or the names of other people (unless they ask you to).
Please also see: Arguments for and against Discontinuation. That page contains arguments made by me- if you'd like to hear other people's arguments for Discontinuation ('for', not 'against'), see Arguments for Discontinuation made by other people. Also, check out History of Discontinuation.
You can also visit the List of all pages page.
Why not check out the page of Quotes related to Discontinuation?. Also, see Writings related to Discontinuation. Miscellaneous Thoughts on Discontinuation is worth checking out as well.
Any philosophy worth taking seriously would have to be built upon a firm foundation of unyielding despair. - Bertrand Russell
