Executive summary: The post argues that longtermism, the view that the effects of our actions on future beings have significant moral weight, provides a case for engaging in directed panspermia to preserve life from existential threats.
Key points:
Longtermism implies future beings, including nonhuman or potential future beings, have moral worth akin to present beings.
Actions that irreversibly affect future beings may be permissible if they mitigate existential threats, even if outcomes are uncertain.
Directed panspermia to spread life mitigates existential risks like the Sun engulfing Earth, so is permissible by longtermism.
Advancing technology may enable creating and preserving more sophisticated life via panspermia.
These arguments suggest more permissive approaches to panspermia in space exploration to protect future beings.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, andcontact us if you have feedback.
Executive summary: The post argues that longtermism, the view that the effects of our actions on future beings have significant moral weight, provides a case for engaging in directed panspermia to preserve life from existential threats.
Key points:
Longtermism implies future beings, including nonhuman or potential future beings, have moral worth akin to present beings.
Actions that irreversibly affect future beings may be permissible if they mitigate existential threats, even if outcomes are uncertain.
Directed panspermia to spread life mitigates existential risks like the Sun engulfing Earth, so is permissible by longtermism.
Advancing technology may enable creating and preserving more sophisticated life via panspermia.
These arguments suggest more permissive approaches to panspermia in space exploration to protect future beings.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, and contact us if you have feedback.