Longtermism: The Key to Human Survival?

Arecent <a href="https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/2023/06/10/no-ai-does-not-pose-an-existential-risk-to-humanity/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">article</a> on the fine blog Economics From the Top Down has brought ‘longtermism’ back into the center of my attention. Longtermism is a philosophical movement holding the ethical view that we should prioritize the far future of humanity — our species long term survival — over its short term needs and desires. And when they say “far future” they mean it: several hundred-thousands of years into the great unknown — hence the astronomical figures <a href="https://1000wordphilosophy.com/2021/09/17/longtermism/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">quoted above</a>. We rarely think that far ahead though. For most of us, humans, thinking about the future rarely extends beyond what’s going to be for dinner. (And while this might sound somewhat short sighted, for billions of people this is a truly existential question.) <a href="https://thehonestsorcerer.medium.com/longtermism-the-key-to-human-survival-eb0d857445ed">Website</a>