Marcus

“The answer is not to make more humans. Once you believe this whole thing is ultimately pointless, it is ridiculous to generate more adversity-facing meaning seekers.”
― David Benatar, Conversations about the Meaning of Life

“Then there are humans. We activate the stress-response if being chased by a predator. But, critically, we can activate that same response if we merely think we’re about to be knocked out of balance—we have an anticipatory stress-response. If it is justified, that is a great thing. But if there is no actual physical stressor impending, and we do that regularly, we have entered the realm of anxiety, neurosis, hostility, and paranoia. Zebras do not worry about global warming, but we do. We activate the identical stress-response as do zebras and lions, but we can do so because of chronic psychological stress. And if that occurs often enough, our disease risk increases, because that is not what the stress-response evolved for.”
― Robert M. Sapolsky, Stress and Your Body

“You did not have children. Your wife had asked you if you wanted any. You didn’t feel ready yet, and you didn’t know if you ever would be. To procreate was such an important and such a mysterious act that you did not believe yourself capable of doing it wisely. You had to accept not being able to measure up to your capacity to transmit life. You did not think that, when they conceived you, your parents were any more reasonable than you currently were. Guessing at the selfishness and the levity of their decision distressed you.”
― Édouard Levé, Suicide

“Basically he didn’t object to the destruction of the sperm bank. The idea of buying sperm and more generally of launching oneself into a reproductive project that didn’t even have the excuse of sexual desire or love … even struck him as frankly revolting.”
― Michel Houellebecq, Anéantir