Coming from an economics background, here’s how to persuade me of longtermism:
Set up a social planner problem with infinite generations and solve for the optimal allocation in each period. Do three cases:
A planner with nonzero time preference and perfect information
A (longtermist) planner with zero time preference and perfect information
A planner with zero time preference and imperfect information
Would the third planner ignore the utility of all generations less than 1000 years in the future? If so, then you’ve proved strong longtermism.
Coming from an economics background, here’s how to persuade me of longtermism:
Set up a social planner problem with infinite generations and solve for the optimal allocation in each period. Do three cases:
A planner with nonzero time preference and perfect information
A (longtermist) planner with zero time preference and perfect information
A planner with zero time preference and imperfect information
Would the third planner ignore the utility of all generations less than 1000 years in the future? If so, then you’ve proved strong longtermism.