ABSTRACT
Suppose we are going to start a life. Should we choose to start the best of those available? Many think we should. I argue against this here. I start by considering Parfit’s discussion of the so-called Non-Identity Problem, but deny that this problem is real. Unless we buy into some sort of intrinsic value view, there is no reason, absenting side effects, to prefer that the best of two good lives, or groups of lives, should come into existence. And then I link this to the Asymmetry. If there is no reason to start a good life, there is no reason to choose to start the better of two good lives. If there is reason to choose better lives, there is reason to start good lives even when there is no choice as to which to start. There is a possible confusion that needs to be avoided. If we are going to start a life we do have reason to make this life as good as possible. But improving a given life is one thing, selecting between two lives another.
