There’s a variant of attitude (1) which I think is worth pointing out:
b) Progress studies is good and we should put resources into it, because it is a good way to reduce X-risk on the margin.
Some arguments for (1b):
Progress studies helps us understand how tech progress is made, which is useful for predicting X-risk.
The more wealthy and stable we are as a civilization, the less likely we are to end up in arms-race type dynamics.
Some technologies help us deal with X-risk (e.g. mRNA for pandemic risks, or intelligence augmentation for all risks). This argument only works if PS accelerates the ‘good’ types of progress more than the ‘bad’ ones, which seems possible.
There’s a variant of attitude (1) which I think is worth pointing out:
b) Progress studies is good and we should put resources into it, because it is a good way to reduce X-risk on the margin.
Some arguments for (1b):
Progress studies helps us understand how tech progress is made, which is useful for predicting X-risk.
The more wealthy and stable we are as a civilization, the less likely we are to end up in arms-race type dynamics.
Some technologies help us deal with X-risk (e.g. mRNA for pandemic risks, or intelligence augmentation for all risks). This argument only works if PS accelerates the ‘good’ types of progress more than the ‘bad’ ones, which seems possible.