I agree that the term, whether neartermist or not-longtermist, does not describe a natural category. But I think the latter does a better job at communicating that. The way I hear it, ânot-longtermistâ sounds like ânot that part of idea-spaceâ, whereas neartermist sounds like an actual view people may hold that relates to how we should prioritise the nearterm versus the longterm. So I think your point actually supports one of Davidâs alternative suggested terms.
And though you say you donât think we need a term for it at all, the fact that the term âneartermistâ has caught on suggests otherwise. If it wasnât helpful, people wouldnât use it. However, perhaps you didnât just mean that we didnât need one, but that we shouldnât use one at all. Iâd disagree with that too because it seems to me reasonable in many cases to want to distinguish longtermism with other worldviews EAs often have (i.e., it seems fair to me to say that Open Philanthropyâs internal structure is divided on longtermist/ânot-longtermist lines).
I agree that the term, whether neartermist or not-longtermist, does not describe a natural category. But I think the latter does a better job at communicating that. The way I hear it, ânot-longtermistâ sounds like ânot that part of idea-spaceâ, whereas neartermist sounds like an actual view people may hold that relates to how we should prioritise the nearterm versus the longterm. So I think your point actually supports one of Davidâs alternative suggested terms.
And though you say you donât think we need a term for it at all, the fact that the term âneartermistâ has caught on suggests otherwise. If it wasnât helpful, people wouldnât use it. However, perhaps you didnât just mean that we didnât need one, but that we shouldnât use one at all. Iâd disagree with that too because it seems to me reasonable in many cases to want to distinguish longtermism with other worldviews EAs often have (i.e., it seems fair to me to say that Open Philanthropyâs internal structure is divided on longtermist/ânot-longtermist lines).
Also, cool image!