Cheers, I appreciate the open feedback.
The thinking on the prioritisation is that the transition to the digital age represents a major shift akin to the hunter-gatherer/agricultural or agricultural/industrial ones. Hence it being considered ‘more impactful’ on our long-term future than even large recurrent events like (non-X-risk) terrorism.
As for making life a priority over even things like extreme suffering, I did not come to that conclusion lightly—and I would recommend reading the chapters on ‘Our physical landscape’ and ‘First you must exist’ to better understand the rationale.
All that said, thanks again for sharing your reaction! I will definitely keep that in mind as I continue to improve the book.
Hello Matt, thanks for the kind words and glad you liked it. With regards to length, it’s something that I’m grappling with. The main points can definitely be made more concisely (I’m guessing most EAs could skip the entire first part) but I’ve also been told by those less familiar with the topics like AGI to beef it up and add a lot more examples and descriptions to help people understand better. So I may end up making the book longer (to make it accessible to a greater number of people) and then creating a shorter summary version for communities like EA.
Also, points very well taken re the book’s limitations as a work of political philosophy. This is where my lack of academic credentials (no formal training in philosophy/ethics/politics, just a bachelor’s in engineering) lets me down. I’m not sure what the best solution to this is, although I might try to team up with/get help from people with PhDs.