“Even if life isn’t pure suffering,” he ponders, “coming into existence can still be sufficiently harmful to render procreation wrong. You are only ever as happy as your unhappiest child. Like Benatar, Peterson believes that the fundamental reality of life is not happiness, but tragedy and suffering. Like my parents, Peterson has a child who suffered severe depression, so I can understand why he doesn’t necessarily equate children with happiness. Anyway, the concepts overlap – meaning tends to bring happiness, although happiness doesn’t necessarily bring meaning.

Source: The Guardian November 03, 2017 13:30 UTC