Strong endorse. I have, on the occasion of two lightning talks (Bahamas and EAGxSingapore) and a shortform post, claimed that lock-in risk obliges us to reject positive longtermism (fighting-for) and constrict ourselves to negative longtermism (fighting-against). However, I point out near the end of each lightning talk that suffering-focused views present me with an extremely difficult challenge: that preserving the future’s freedom preserves the possibility of torture, that suffering abolition is a form of positive longtermism. I really struggle with the tradeoff between libertarianism/cosmopolitanism (or any other framework behind emphasizing lock-in risk) and suffering-focused views; by far, the button-offering demon that presents me with the most dread is the one offering a button that would end suffering but lock in my particular opinions and aesthetics about what flourishing is.
No top-level post about positive and negative longtermism yet, though.
Strong endorse. I have, on the occasion of two lightning talks (Bahamas and EAGxSingapore) and a shortform post, claimed that lock-in risk obliges us to reject positive longtermism (fighting-for) and constrict ourselves to negative longtermism (fighting-against). However, I point out near the end of each lightning talk that suffering-focused views present me with an extremely difficult challenge: that preserving the future’s freedom preserves the possibility of torture, that suffering abolition is a form of positive longtermism. I really struggle with the tradeoff between libertarianism/cosmopolitanism (or any other framework behind emphasizing lock-in risk) and suffering-focused views; by far, the button-offering demon that presents me with the most dread is the one offering a button that would end suffering but lock in my particular opinions and aesthetics about what flourishing is.
No top-level post about positive and negative longtermism yet, though.