I sort of agree in general, but I feel compelled to reply: A. I agree with that, except I wouldn’t miss cats that much… and we’d at least have more little birds around without these cute utility monsters. But I guess one can extrapolate your argument to dogs, too. B. I totally agree with that, and it’s the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about nature… But I suspect we should try to keep aesthetic and ethical values apart—especially because some people (including me) often prefer deserts and icy mountains to things like rain forests.
C. totally agree. I’d add: though many people work in biodiversity, I’m afraid few of them have an EA-like mentality—so they are possibly not focusing the most effective interventions (i.e., lots of low-hanging fruits around).
(B) and (C) make me think about the debate between Sax Russell and Ann Clayborne in K. S. Robinson’s Mars trilogy. The former wants to turn Mars into a planet full of exhuberant ecossystems, while the latter wants to conserve its beautyful barren landscape.
Moreover, if one considers biodiversity as valuable (per se, or because of its potential usefulness), and given that GCRs would likely harm it, then maybe one can substantially increase the expected value of GCR prevention.
I sort of agree in general, but I feel compelled to reply:
A. I agree with that, except I wouldn’t miss cats that much… and we’d at least have more little birds around without these cute utility monsters. But I guess one can extrapolate your argument to dogs, too.
B. I totally agree with that, and it’s the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about nature… But I suspect we should try to keep aesthetic and ethical values apart—especially because some people (including me) often prefer deserts and icy mountains to things like rain forests.
C. totally agree. I’d add: though many people work in biodiversity, I’m afraid few of them have an EA-like mentality—so they are possibly not focusing the most effective interventions (i.e., lots of low-hanging fruits around).
(B) and (C) make me think about the debate between Sax Russell and Ann Clayborne in K. S. Robinson’s Mars trilogy. The former wants to turn Mars into a planet full of exhuberant ecossystems, while the latter wants to conserve its beautyful barren landscape.
Moreover, if one considers biodiversity as valuable (per se, or because of its potential usefulness), and given that GCRs would likely harm it, then maybe one can substantially increase the expected value of GCR prevention.