Some things that are extinction risks are also s-risks or at least risk causing a lot of suffeing, e.g. AI risk, large-scale conflict. See Common ground for longtermists by Tobias Baumann for the Center for Reducing Suffering.
But ya, downside-focused value systems typically accept the procreation asymmetry, so future people not existing is not bad in itself.
It is very high-impact when survival is considered indispensable to have control over nature for preventing negative values from coming back after extinction.
I would recommend this short essay on the topic: Human Extinction, Asymmetry, and Option Value Abstract: โHow should we evaluate events that could cause the extinction of the human species? I argue that even if we believe in a moral view according to which human extinction would be a good thing, we still have strong reason to prevent near-term human extinction.โ (Just to clarify: this essay was not written by me)
Cause prioritisation for negative utilitarians and other downside-focused value systems: It is interesting to note that reduction of extinction risk is not very high-impact in downside-focussed value systems.
Some things that are extinction risks are also s-risks or at least risk causing a lot of suffeing, e.g. AI risk, large-scale conflict. See Common ground for longtermists by Tobias Baumann for the Center for Reducing Suffering.
But ya, downside-focused value systems typically accept the procreation asymmetry, so future people not existing is not bad in itself.
It is very high-impact when survival is considered indispensable to have control over nature for preventing negative values from coming back after extinction.
I would recommend this short essay on the topic: Human Extinction, Asymmetry, and Option Value
Abstract: โHow should we evaluate events that could cause the extinction of the human species? I argue that even if we believe in a moral view according to which human extinction would be a good thing, we still have strong reason to prevent near-term human extinction.โ
(Just to clarify: this essay was not written by me)
Insightful thoughts!