Cool! One point from a quick skim—the number of animals wouldn’t be lost in many kinds of human extinction events or existential risks. Only a subset would erase the entire biosphere—e.g. a resource-maximising rogue AI, vacuum decay, etc. Presumably with extinction of just humans the animal density of reclaimed land would be higher than current, so the number of animals would rise (assuming it outweighs the end of factory farming).
The implications of human existential risks for animals is interesting, and I can see some points either way depending on the moral theory (e.g. end of factory farming in human extinction, but rise of wild animal suffering; total number and quality of animal lives in a beyond-Earth humanity; potential of a completely re-wilded Earth in a beyond-Earth humanity; risks of astronomical suffering if a beyond-Earth humanity retains the equivalent of factory farming...)
Thanks Ben! I totally agree. The math in this post was trying to get at upper and lower bounds and a median—but for setting one’s personal thresholds, the nuance you mention is incredibly important. I hope this post, and the Desmos tool I linked, can help people play with these numbers and set their own thresholds!
Cool! One point from a quick skim—the number of animals wouldn’t be lost in many kinds of human extinction events or existential risks. Only a subset would erase the entire biosphere—e.g. a resource-maximising rogue AI, vacuum decay, etc. Presumably with extinction of just humans the animal density of reclaimed land would be higher than current, so the number of animals would rise (assuming it outweighs the end of factory farming).
The implications of human existential risks for animals is interesting, and I can see some points either way depending on the moral theory (e.g. end of factory farming in human extinction, but rise of wild animal suffering; total number and quality of animal lives in a beyond-Earth humanity; potential of a completely re-wilded Earth in a beyond-Earth humanity; risks of astronomical suffering if a beyond-Earth humanity retains the equivalent of factory farming...)
Thanks Ben! I totally agree. The math in this post was trying to get at upper and lower bounds and a median—but for setting one’s personal thresholds, the nuance you mention is incredibly important. I hope this post, and the Desmos tool I linked, can help people play with these numbers and set their own thresholds!