I’m curious to hear whether people believe they would know if we were doing the “optimal amount” to address long-term risks (such that it became most effective to redirect further efforts on the margins primarily toward enhancing welfare in the near term). If you think this would be clear to you, how do you think you would know? What would be some of the signs? What does “enough” even mean in the context of long-term risk mitigation? And more concretely, are there any governments (or societies) today that you believe are doing enough to address a particular long-term risk that they face? What is it specifically that indicates to you that they shouldn’t be doing more?
[Question] What would “doing enough” to safeguard the long-term future look like?
I’m curious to hear whether people believe they would know if we were doing the “optimal amount” to address long-term risks (such that it became most effective to redirect further efforts on the margins primarily toward enhancing welfare in the near term). If you think this would be clear to you, how do you think you would know? What would be some of the signs? What does “enough” even mean in the context of long-term risk mitigation? And more concretely, are there any governments (or societies) today that you believe are doing enough to address a particular long-term risk that they face? What is it specifically that indicates to you that they shouldn’t be doing more?