If I recall correctly, the old Felicifia forums (archive) had a lot of debates between negative and other utilitarians about this exact thing. There are also lots of other thought experiment-like “repugnant conclusions” that go with various forums of utilitarianism, including the “Hedonium Shockwave” idea, where you tile the universe with happiness generating computronium as the most efficient way to maximize utility.
The reality is, it’s very hard to avoid weird hypothetical conclusions when you take as your ethics a simple rule like “minimize suffering” or “maximize happiness”. This is a known problem with consequentialist ethics, and it’s up to you if you want to bite the bullet or follow your moral intuitions.
If I recall correctly, the old Felicifia forums (archive) had a lot of debates between negative and other utilitarians about this exact thing. There are also lots of other thought experiment-like “repugnant conclusions” that go with various forums of utilitarianism, including the “Hedonium Shockwave” idea, where you tile the universe with happiness generating computronium as the most efficient way to maximize utility.
The reality is, it’s very hard to avoid weird hypothetical conclusions when you take as your ethics a simple rule like “minimize suffering” or “maximize happiness”. This is a known problem with consequentialist ethics, and it’s up to you if you want to bite the bullet or follow your moral intuitions.