Unpacking this: on linear-in-resources (LIR) views, we could lose out on most value if we (i) capture only a small fraction of resources that we could have done, and/or (ii) use resources in a less efficient way than we could have done. (Where on a LIR view, there is some use of resources that has the highest value/unit of resources, and everything should be used in that way.)
Plausibly at least, only a tiny % of possible ways of using resources are close to the value produced by the highest value/unit of resources use. So, the thinking goes, merely getting non-extinction isn’t yet getting you close to a near-best future—instead you really need to get from a non-extinction future to that optimally-used-resources future, and if you don’t then you lose out on almost all value.
Unpacking this: on linear-in-resources (LIR) views, we could lose out on most value if we (i) capture only a small fraction of resources that we could have done, and/or (ii) use resources in a less efficient way than we could have done. (Where on a LIR view, there is some use of resources that has the highest value/unit of resources, and everything should be used in that way.)
Plausibly at least, only a tiny % of possible ways of using resources are close to the value produced by the highest value/unit of resources use. So, the thinking goes, merely getting non-extinction isn’t yet getting you close to a near-best future—instead you really need to get from a non-extinction future to that optimally-used-resources future, and if you don’t then you lose out on almost all value.