But I don’t think that means we need to retire the phrase unless we see it being constantly used as a strawman or something? It’s not complete, but it’s a quick way to summarize a big part of the argument.
I do often see it used as an argument for longtermism, without reference to tractability.
This is true, but it takes only one extra sentence to say “but this is hard so in practice we focus on lock-in”.
So: “What matters most about our actions is their very long term effects, but this is hard so in practice we focus on lock-in”. But why bother making the claim about our actions in general? It seems like an attempt to make a grand theory where it’s not warranted.
I do often see it used as an argument for longtermism, without reference to tractability.
So: “What matters most about our actions is their very long term effects, but this is hard so in practice we focus on lock-in”.
But why bother making the claim about our actions in general? It seems like an attempt to make a grand theory where it’s not warranted.