[boston_clone]

I'm not sure what you mean by "net increase in happiness". Like, if the universe was a big bank of emotions from which we all made withdrawals and deposits? That's a weird premise to accept.

In any case, the act of killing a sentient being is wrong. We've got that more or less universally codified for other humans (and most pets); seems we may just need a few more uncomfortable ethical discussions before we reach consistency.

[mhb]

Yes, but it doesn't have to be the universe. It could just be a farm. Suppose a cow has a happy 3 year life munching grass in the field but is killed after that. There's more happiness on the farm. So should there be more of those cows on the farm? Or would it be better if those cows had never lived.