longtermist

plural longtermists · alternative long-termist

1. ethicsA believer or follower of longtermism (“an ethical stance which gives priority to improving the long-term future”).

   It’s an article of faith among longtermists that an event that led to the loss of 99% of humanity would be vastly preferable to one that kills off 100%.

   2023 July 22, Andrew Anthony, “The pro-extinctionist philosopher who has sparked a battle over humanity’s future”, in The Observer, →ISSN

   2 more examples

   Longtermists are in daily conversation with neartermists. It’s a red herring to argue that “abandoning what would most help people on Earth today isn’t exactly ethically sound.”

   2022 September 9, Theodore Leinwand, “Neartermism and longtermism aren’t at odds”, in The Washington Post

   Some longtermists, for instance, argue that we need to balance the need to address climate change now with the need to invest in colonizing space; they encourage us to think on a billion-year timescale.

   2022 November 17, Annie Lowrey, “Effective Altruism Committed the Sin It Was Supposed to Correct”, in The Atlantic

alternative long-termist

1. not comparableethicsOf, pertaining to or supporting longtermism (“an ethical stance which gives priority to improving the long-term future”).

   Effective altruists talk about both “neartermism” and “longtermism.” Bankman-Fried said he wanted his money to address longtermist threats like the dangers posed by artificial intelligence spiraling out of control.

   2022 December 9, Jennifer Szalai, “Effective Altruism Warned of Risks. Did It Also Incentivize Them?”, in The New York Times

   1 more example

   Earlier this year, the AI theorist Eliezer Yudkowsky, who is associated with longtermist thinking, wrote an op-ed for Time magazine in which he argued that the world should not just institute a moratorium on artificial intelligence development but also be prepared to use nuclear arms to shut down large rogue computer farms that flouted the moratorium.

   2023 July 22, Andrew Anthony, “The pro-extinctionist philosopher who has sparked a battle over humanity’s future”, in The Observer, →ISSN