This is a reading of a popular post from Tobias Baumann, on the CRS website.

"Among the myriad ways to do good, should averting ⁠risks of astronomical suffering⁠ (s-risks) be our main priority? The case for a focus on s-risks rests on a combination of the following:

1. Longtermism: We should focus on improving the long-term future, rather than trying to help those alive now or in the near future.
2. Suffering focus: We should give priority to avoiding severe suffering or other large-scale harm, compared to other goals such as ensuring a flourishing future for humanity. (This can be justified on normative or empirical grounds.)
3. Worst-case focus: The most effective way to reduce expected suffering in the long-term is to focus on preventing particularly bad outcomes.

In the following, I will outline key arguments for and against each of these premises. Most of those are not novel, and I will mostly refer the reader to existing work. The contribution of this article is to compile an even-handed overview of the ideas that underpin a focus on s-risks, as well as possible reasons to reject such a focus in favor of other priorities."

⁠⁠Read the full post⁠⁠⁠ including footnotes, references and acknowledgements:

This is a reading of a popular post from Tobias Baumann, on the CRS website.

"Given our vast uncertainty and nearsightedness about the future, we should perhaps focus on putting society in as good a position as possible to address the challenges of the future. Or, put differently, we should optimise for a proxy along the lines of “how well is society working in 2100.

"One important dimension of this is a functional political system. Efforts to avoid harmful political and social dynamics, and to strengthen democratic governance, are therefore of interest to effective altruists...."

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This is a reading of a popular post from Magnus Vinding, on the CRS website. In it, he explores the many reasons to adopt a cooperative approach to altruism.

"A cooperative approach can enable positive-sum compromises, make people more willing to join our efforts, and promote collaboration with others toward shared ends. Last but not least, greater cooperation can help reduce some of the main risk factors for s-risks...

Read the full post⁠ including footnotes, references and acknowledgements: