Hello! I’m just here to introduce myself as I think I’m a bit of an unusual effective altruist. I am an astrobiologist and my research focuses on the search for life on Mars. Before discovering effective altruism I was always very interested in the long term future of life in the context of looming existential risks. I thought the best thing to do was to send life to other planets so that it would survive in a worst case scenario. But a masters degree later, I got into effective altruism and decided that this cause was a 10⁄10 on importance, 10⁄10 on neglectedness, and 1⁄10 on tractability.
So my focus has changed more recently as I progress through my PhD. I’m interested in the moral implications of astrobiology as it plays a really important role at the core of longtermism. There are a few moral implications that depend on astrobiology research:
Research conclusion: The universe and our Solar System are full of habitable celestial bodies. Moral implication: The number of potential future humans is huge in the long term future, so we ought to protect these people through research into existential risks.
Research conclusion: The universe seems to be empty of life. Moral Implication: Life on Earth is extremely valuable, so ensuring its survival should be the highest moral priority.
Research conclusion: Planets like Earth are extremely rare and far away. Moral implication: “there is no planet B”—we ought to protect our Earth for the next ~1000 years as there is no backup plan
I plan to investigate these ideas further and see where they lead me. I think that as I progress in my career, I can equip philosophy and outreach to help people understand the long term perspective and inspire action towards tackling existential risks. Great to meet you all!
Very interesting. I enjoyed reading your thoughts on life here and there (loose reference to the “Now and Then, Here and There” anime. Our planet and life are very precious. Good meeting you :)
Are you aware of Robin Hanson’s Grabby Aliens model? It doesn’t have an immediate consequence for the research conclusions you listed, but I think it (and anthropic considerations in general) are in the wheelhouse of interesting stuff if you care about space travel.
Yeah, though I only became aware of it after getting involved with EA. It seems to fit in the group of very interesting philosophical space things that are scary and I have no idea what to do about! Joining the club with the great filter, the doomsday argument, and the fermi paradox.
Hello! I’m just here to introduce myself as I think I’m a bit of an unusual effective altruist. I am an astrobiologist and my research focuses on the search for life on Mars. Before discovering effective altruism I was always very interested in the long term future of life in the context of looming existential risks. I thought the best thing to do was to send life to other planets so that it would survive in a worst case scenario. But a masters degree later, I got into effective altruism and decided that this cause was a 10⁄10 on importance, 10⁄10 on neglectedness, and 1⁄10 on tractability.
So my focus has changed more recently as I progress through my PhD. I’m interested in the moral implications of astrobiology as it plays a really important role at the core of longtermism. There are a few moral implications that depend on astrobiology research:
Research conclusion: The universe and our Solar System are full of habitable celestial bodies. Moral implication: The number of potential future humans is huge in the long term future, so we ought to protect these people through research into existential risks.
Research conclusion: The universe seems to be empty of life. Moral Implication: Life on Earth is extremely valuable, so ensuring its survival should be the highest moral priority.
Research conclusion: Planets like Earth are extremely rare and far away. Moral implication: “there is no planet B”—we ought to protect our Earth for the next ~1000 years as there is no backup plan
I plan to investigate these ideas further and see where they lead me. I think that as I progress in my career, I can equip philosophy and outreach to help people understand the long term perspective and inspire action towards tackling existential risks. Great to meet you all!
Very interesting. I enjoyed reading your thoughts on life here and there (loose reference to the “Now and Then, Here and There” anime. Our planet and life are very precious. Good meeting you :)
Are you aware of Robin Hanson’s Grabby Aliens model? It doesn’t have an immediate consequence for the research conclusions you listed, but I think it (and anthropic considerations in general) are in the wheelhouse of interesting stuff if you care about space travel.
Yeah, though I only became aware of it after getting involved with EA. It seems to fit in the group of very interesting philosophical space things that are scary and I have no idea what to do about! Joining the club with the great filter, the doomsday argument, and the fermi paradox.
Hi Jordan,
welcome to the EA Forum. :)
@Ekaterina_Ilin studies stars and exoplanets at the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam. Maybe this connection can help you with your research.
Hi Felix. Thanks for the welcome and the introduction to @Ekaterina_Ilin :)