Join us for an evening of guided discussion. Together, in small groups of 4-6, we will learn about and discuss population ethics, or the “study of the ethical problems arising when our actions affect who is born and how many people are born in the future.”
No background knowledge is needed, just an interest in learning. We’ll provide relevant context, definitions, and suggested discussion questions.
If you’re interested in joining, please RSVP so I can plan for enough drinks & snacks.
Date: Thursday, April 6
Time: 7:00 – 9:30 pm
- 7:00pm - Arrive, mingle
- 7:20pm - Announcements, then break into groups for guided discussions
- 9:00pm - Return to whole group
- 9:30pm - Closing remarks. Everyone can continue hanging out
Address: 1048 Polk Ave, Sunnyvale, CA 94086
- 27 minute (1.3) mile walk from the Sunnyvale Caltrain station
- Street parking is available
Covid protocol: This is an indoor, unmasked event. We ask all attendees to be vaccinated or have a negative test within the past two days.
Hi Villafana. Sorry I missed this comment earlier! Hope to see you at one of our other upcoming discussion groups if you're local :)
The goal of this discussion wasn't necessarily to determine if population growth is or isn't an issue (though lately I've seen more concern about declining replacement rates than overpopulation), but to better understanding why people in the EA community have considered population ethics and the different population-related tradeoffs that we might come across.
You mention housing for homeless people -- that's a great example of a situation that would be helpful to consider from different viewpoints within population ethics. How does it affect the wellbeing of communities who receive this new population? Is it ethical to incentivize people to move into housing or is it undermining individual choice? Is this the best way to increase wellbeing for homeless people who might have different values and desires? (no need to answer these questions, its just an example of how one might try to develop a deeper understanding)
Personally I haven't seen any data that shows an increase in available housing due to suicide deaths. I often fall back to Our World in Data, which shows the magnitude of deaths attributed to disease. These issues, such as mental and physical health, are often incredibly complex.