Saagar recommended a book he started reading, What We Owe the Future - by William MacAskill. I was interested in the book as it mirrored some of the thoughts in The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson. I read Robinson's book earlier in 2022.
I liked The Ministry for the Future well enough. To be honest I liked the essays that are interspersed into the book (every other chapter it seemed like, more than the general story. But overall it is an interesting idea that ties back to some overall trend that is developing that people have an obligation to today and tomorrow. This idea is a natural extrapolation of the idea that if your past actions have brought you to where you are today, then your present actions will bring about reality in the future.
What We Owe the Future is about the idea of "longtermism" MacAskill defines longtermism as: "the idea that positively influencing the longterm future is a key moral priority of our time." It is our responsibility to be good stewards of the world of the future. Not only do future people count, but stewardship extends to animals and plants.
Of course, neither MacAskill nor Robinson is the creator of the idea that we should take actions that show responsibility for future generations. "Contingent" is the term MacAskill uses for the concept that something is inevitable. MacAskill highlights that American Indians (he cites the example of Iroquois Indians making decisions using a "seventh generation principle." every decision we make relates to the welfare and well-being of the seventh generation to come...). If Newton hadn't invented calculus that someone else would have (Liebnitz).
A FRAMEWORK FOR THINKING ABOUT THE FUTURE
Significance - What's the average value added by bringing about a certain state of affairs?
Persistence - How long will this state of affairs last once it has been brought about?
Continency - If not for the action under consideration, how briefly would the world have been in this state of affairs (if ever)?
Comments