Executive summary: The post speculates on factors influencing “Progress in Qualia” over the past 200 years, considering the impact on the quality and variety of conscious experiences for humans, animals, and novel technological artifacts.
Key points:
Human population growth and increased lifespans have greatly expanded the total amount of human qualia, though the impact on average happiness is unclear.
Psychedelic drugs and meditation may have increased the variety and intensity of human qualia, but economic progress might reduce interest in meditation.
Factory farming has likely produced enormous amounts of net-negative animal qualia that could outweigh gains in human qualia.
Humanity’s destruction of wild animal habitats has probably reduced net-negative qualia from wild animal suffering.
Technological progress may have created entirely novel varieties of qualia as a side effect, especially in the last 150 years.
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Executive summary: The post speculates on factors influencing “Progress in Qualia” over the past 200 years, considering the impact on the quality and variety of conscious experiences for humans, animals, and novel technological artifacts.
Key points:
Human population growth and increased lifespans have greatly expanded the total amount of human qualia, though the impact on average happiness is unclear.
Psychedelic drugs and meditation may have increased the variety and intensity of human qualia, but economic progress might reduce interest in meditation.
Factory farming has likely produced enormous amounts of net-negative animal qualia that could outweigh gains in human qualia.
Humanity’s destruction of wild animal habitats has probably reduced net-negative qualia from wild animal suffering.
Technological progress may have created entirely novel varieties of qualia as a side effect, especially in the last 150 years.
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.