The clearest evidence of discontent is the unprecedented fertility decline across developed nations. Humans are increasingly choosing not to reproduce at replacement rate when given modern conditions.
Why is this clear evidence of discontent? Aren’t there many other plausible explanations for the decline in fertility rates, like changes in values and life goals, like ideal family size, prioritization of careers and other interests?
Nearly no one wants to torture broiler chickens at massive and increasing scale. If we’re doing that, this suggests our interlocking coordination systems are already producing outcomes severely misaligned from individual human values and preferences.
I agree with the first sentence, but I’m not sure about the second. I think a primary reason is that it’s not usually a political priority, because it’s not actually important to the average voter. If it’s not that important, the outcomes are not severely misaligned from individual human values and preferences.
But it can be made a priority through political advocacy. The outcomes of ballot measures seem like pretty good evidence of what people prefer.
Either we restore human agency
I doubt we have ever really had more human agency in the past than now.
Either we restore human agency enough to avoid relying on distasteful and repugnant systems like the worst aspects of factory farming (...) Only the first path offers hope of addressing animal welfare systematically.
This seems wrong to me. While factory farming is increasing, it’s primarily because of increasing populations and incomes, and there are effective targeted ways to systematically reduce and mitigate factory farming that don’t require increasing human agency as a whole. Basically what the animal welfare side of EA does.
The decision calculus would be substantially different if we were near the end rather than the beginning of expansion through the universe, just as one should usually focus more on improving one’s own capacities earlier in life and on contributing to others’ development later on.
Possibly! But I’d like to see actual intervention proposals and estimates of their effects and cost-effectiveness. If the decision calculus is so obvious, you should be able to easily give a lower bound on the cost-effectiveness that drastically beats targeted animal welfare work (and being fair, should consider long-term effects of animal welfare work).
Why is this clear evidence of discontent? Aren’t there many other plausible explanations for the decline in fertility rates, like changes in values and life goals, like ideal family size, prioritization of careers and other interests?
I agree with the first sentence, but I’m not sure about the second. I think a primary reason is that it’s not usually a political priority, because it’s not actually important to the average voter. If it’s not that important, the outcomes are not severely misaligned from individual human values and preferences.
But it can be made a priority through political advocacy. The outcomes of ballot measures seem like pretty good evidence of what people prefer.
I doubt we have ever really had more human agency in the past than now.
This seems wrong to me. While factory farming is increasing, it’s primarily because of increasing populations and incomes, and there are effective targeted ways to systematically reduce and mitigate factory farming that don’t require increasing human agency as a whole. Basically what the animal welfare side of EA does.
Possibly! But I’d like to see actual intervention proposals and estimates of their effects and cost-effectiveness. If the decision calculus is so obvious, you should be able to easily give a lower bound on the cost-effectiveness that drastically beats targeted animal welfare work (and being fair, should consider long-term effects of animal welfare work).