The poor among us live better lives than kings and elites of the 19th century. The poor have running water, medicine, electricity, safe childbirth, etc. while a king in 1850 had no pain medicine, no flushing toilets, high infant mortality, no cars, etc. Even as our population booms (8.2 billion people) resources are becoming more abundant through technology and innovation.
“Before the 19th century, agriculture relied heavily on manure for fertilization, limiting crop yields due to its low nitrogen content. As populations grew, farmers sought more potent alternatives.
The breakthrough came in the early 20th century with the Haber–Bosch process, developed by the German chemists Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch. This method allowed for the synthetic fixation of atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia, producing fertilizer on an industrial scale. It decoupled food production from natural nitrogen sources, revolutionizing agriculture and enabling the rapid expansion of global populations. It is estimated that without synthetic fertilizer, the planet’s food production would be able to support only four billion rather than eight billion people.”[1]
Given enough time, humans can innovate themselves out of many problems. But suffering persists. How long will it take to solve natural disasters? How many people will die in catastrophic storms, earthquakes and floods? Hurricane Melissa recently killed 67 people in Jamaica and caused tens of billions of dollars in damage across the island. The category five storm was the first to make landfall in Jamaica in its recorded history. Maybe this is an omen. There is strong evidence that climate events are getting more extreme, with studies showing increases in the frequency and intensity of heat waves, heavy precipitation, and severe storms. It should be noted, however, that fewer people are dying from natural disasters. The 1960s saw 325,903 deaths from natural disasters, while the 2010s saw 45,434 deaths. [2]
But human progress isn’t linear – we can move backwards. Iran, for instance, entered an age of liberal values and modernization under the Pahlavi Dynasty and after the 1979 revolution, it slipped into an oppressive Islamic theocracy. Bita Shafiei, a 19-year-old Iranian woman, was arrested on November 13, 2025, by IRGC agents. No information was released about where she’s being held or what charges were filed against her. She is at risk of torture, or worse, for speaking out about the Islamic Republic in Iran. “No one knows how many people are held in Iran’s prisons and secret detention centers for the peaceful expression of their views. Over the past four years, as the window of free expression has closed in Iran, abuse and torture of dissidents have increased in Evin Prison’s solitary cells and secret detention centers.”[3] In the West, liberal values have been a beacon of individual freedom, equality and human rights for the past 80 years. Hopefully, Western liberal values can someday reside in Iran again.
Materially, the world is advancing, but while political, economic and social suffering are mitigated to varying degrees, human consciousness is innately tied to existential dread. We can’t escape the deep meaninglessness of existence even with advanced technology and freer societies. You don’t always see human progress juxtaposed with what Schopenhauer described as, a blind, irrational force called the “will” that constantly creates desire and lack. Even the best of lives is characterized by more suffering than pleasure. The very fact that you’re constantly weighing morally good actions against morally bad actions creates an unease in your second-by-second experience of life. Added to that there are corporeal needs – you’re hungry, thirsty, tired, there is pain in some part of your body. After everything, death is waiting. Maybe you die painlessly, maybe not, but the very thought of dying is uncomfortable to say the least. Death is the final blow and the consciousness that is you, fades away and is lost forever.
When talking about antinatalism, it’s more pragmatic to talk about it from the perspective of consciousness. All external forces can be changed, for better or for worse. The climate crisis could be solved. Iran can overthrow the theocracy. But consciousness will always be suffering. Panpsychism states consciousness is inherent in everything in existence. Maybe the universe suffers. Human beings, though, have foresight, memory, reflection and anticipation, all of which amplify our suffering.
Because of our built-in negativity bias, negative experiences have a stronger impact on us than positive ones. We prioritize threats, so bad events feel more salient and memorable than good ones. Criticism weighs more heavily than praise, and dangers capture our attention more quickly than benefits. This all happens within consciousness.
When existence is avoided, this intrinsic problem is solved. It is perhaps the most advanced solution we can devise for all the world’s problems.