Even if you think all sentient life is net negative, extinction is not a wise choice. Unless you completely destroy Earth, animal life will probably evolve again, so there will be suffering in the future.
Moreover, what if there are sentient aliens somewhere? What if some form of panpsychism is true and there is consciousness embedded in most systems? What if some multiverse theory is true?
If you want to truly end suffering, your best bet would be something like creating a non sentient AGI that transforms everything into some nonsentient matter, and then spends eternity thinking and experimenting to determine if there are other universes or other pockets of suffering, and how to influence them.
Of course this would entail human extinction too, but it’s a very precise form of extinction. Even if you create an AGI, it would have to be aligned with your suffering-minimizing ethics.
So for now, even if you think life is net negative, preventing ourselves from losing control of the future is a very important instrumental goal. And anything that threatens that control, even if it’s not an existential threat, should be avoided.
Even if you think all sentient life is net negative, extinction is not a wise choice. Unless you completely destroy Earth, animal life will probably evolve again, so there will be suffering in the future.
Moreover, what if there are sentient aliens somewhere? What if some form of panpsychism is true and there is consciousness embedded in most systems? What if some multiverse theory is true?
If you want to truly end suffering, your best bet would be something like creating a non sentient AGI that transforms everything into some nonsentient matter, and then spends eternity thinking and experimenting to determine if there are other universes or other pockets of suffering, and how to influence them.
Of course this would entail human extinction too, but it’s a very precise form of extinction. Even if you create an AGI, it would have to be aligned with your suffering-minimizing ethics.
So for now, even if you think life is net negative, preventing ourselves from losing control of the future is a very important instrumental goal. And anything that threatens that control, even if it’s not an existential threat, should be avoided.