Try and prove me wrong on this...

[Mozart Link]

I don't see why being a parent can make one's arguments or opinion less valuable. Some people choose to not have kids

It doesn't. However, the OP strikes me as a miserably self-absorbed little shit who wouldn't cross the fucking street to help someone if it impeded his "happiness" while expecting others, especially family, to sacrifice endlessly on his/her behalf (see the ridiculous "I'd rather be retarded and cared for" spiel). I have neither time nor sympathy for such people, and I speak as one who had serious bouts of depression in the past. But no matter how I felt, I was never for a moment tempted to trade off my intelligence, as the OP would. I consider it a craven and contemptible attitude.

My remark was intended to point out that the OP doesn't seem at this time to have anyone or anything else to live for. He will most likely feel different about that in the future -- especially if there are children involved. If the OP never becomes a parent -- great. He will still need to find something strong enough to pull him out of his morbid self-absorption.

**I don't know the gender of the OP. I wrote "he" just to avoid the ugly and awkward he/she. If the OP is female, my apologies.**

I not only argued why my pleasure is more important from my own "selfish" perspective, but I have also argued this from another point of view (from a caring and selfless person's point of view such as yourself). That would, again, be that my family would obviously be more devastated knowing that I am intelligent and have no pleasure and that they would be happy and at peace knowing that I am retarded and am happy myself regardless of how hard it makes their lives in taking care of me and such.

So I ask here, why wouldn't they feel devastated if I were to be intelligent and such with no pleasure and why would they feel better knowing that I have no pleasure than if I were to be happy and them having to take care of me? They would obviously value my emotional well-being (pleasure) much more than the fact that they have the burden of having to take care of me and they would also value my pleasure over my intelligence and other things about me and such. Which is obviously why I would choose to be retarded and not cause my family the most devastation.

Therefore, from both my own "selfish" perspective and also from the "selfless" perspective of a helpful and caring person, my argument holds true for both of these types of people.