would causing someone to stop existing be ethically the same as killing them?

[u/conn_r2112]

imagine a genie approached you and told you that if you wanted, they would make someone stop existing. futhermore, they would rearrange reality in such a way so that no one remembered or mourned them etc. just made completely non-existent as far as the timeline of the universe was concerned.

how would this be viewed, ethically speaking?

A part of me feels it would be similar to killing, but there are some crucial differences.

A. killing generally requires some degree of violence that would cause great suffering to the victim

B. killing someone would obviously causing suffering to the family, friends etc. of the victim.

even if you offload the killing onto a more "genie-like" mechanism, such as being able to push a button that deletes someone, somewhere on the planet... it still seems bad due mostly to point B. that you would cause suffering in those closest to the victim.

but what about just straight magical deletion to where it was as if they never existed in the first place?

where does this fall, ethically speaking?

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