Emma Engström: "What does it truly mean to prioritize the distant future?"

Project member Emma Engström discusses longtermism, its assumptions and implications in the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet.

"Some argue that the most important thing humans can do is to realize their long-term potential as a species, that nothing matters more than its flourishing over time. The concept of existential risk has been discussed by Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom as the risk that this potential is obliterated through human extinction. However, long-term thinking can be dangerous because it might lead decision-makers to prioritize potential threats to our species over reducing suffering among those living here and now. An action that could potentially reduce the likelihood of a potential catastrophe far into the future could justify wrongdoing today. And what does it truly mean to flourish? The ideology sometimes suffers from an arrogant and micromanaging mindset, risking becoming paternalistic. It is presumptuous to believe that we can foresee the dreams of future generations, and a better approach would therefore be to frame long-term thinking as an imperative to enable a flourishing future, to make reasonable efforts – more than what we do today – to provide future generations with the opportunity to shape their own lives and find solutions to their own challenges."
Read the full article in Swedish here.