Executive summary: S-risks, involving astronomical suffering, may be more important to focus on than existential risks; researchers argue s-risks have a significant chance of occurring but can be made less likely through actions today.
Key points:
S-risks have a wider scope and higher severity than existential risks, affecting more beings than would otherwise exist and making their lives worse than non-existence.
S-risks are a possibility due to potential cosmic expansion, advancing technology, suffering occurring through neglect or as a side effect, and the fact that they are preventable with foresight.
Actions to reduce s-risks include expanding our moral circle, reducing the influence of malevolent actors, and continuing work that prevents suffering today.
Even if s-risks have low probability, they are worth addressing; the alternative to s-risks does not have to be extinction.
Avoiding s-risks increases the value of ensuring humanity’s survival, and s-risk scenarios may be extremely difficult to escape once they arise.
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Executive summary: S-risks, involving astronomical suffering, may be more important to focus on than existential risks; researchers argue s-risks have a significant chance of occurring but can be made less likely through actions today.
Key points:
S-risks have a wider scope and higher severity than existential risks, affecting more beings than would otherwise exist and making their lives worse than non-existence.
S-risks are a possibility due to potential cosmic expansion, advancing technology, suffering occurring through neglect or as a side effect, and the fact that they are preventable with foresight.
Actions to reduce s-risks include expanding our moral circle, reducing the influence of malevolent actors, and continuing work that prevents suffering today.
Even if s-risks have low probability, they are worth addressing; the alternative to s-risks does not have to be extinction.
Avoiding s-risks increases the value of ensuring humanity’s survival, and s-risk scenarios may be extremely difficult to escape once they arise.
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.