How can we help humans thrive trillions of years from now? This philosopher has a plan

A piece of glass can be dropped on a trail. Someone may cut themselves on the glass while walking along the trail.

If it does happen to someone you know in a week, you would be very sorry. What if the victim lived a long time in the future.

"If you're thinking about the possibility of harming someone, it doesn't matter that person will be harmed next week or next year, or even in a hundred," said William MacAskill. It's harmful.

MacAskill believes that humans have a moral responsibility to protect the future of humanity, prevent it from going extinct, and create a better future for generations to come. He describes this concept in his new book.

MacAskill explains in the book why we need to figure out how to minimize the harm that global threats such as biowarfare, climate change or nuclear disaster could have on future humans. He wants readers to think about what a sustainable future could look like. Humans might be able to live on other planets or stop the sun from burning up Earth in half a billion years.

It sounds like something out of a science fiction movie. MacAskill is a senior research fellow at the Global Priorities Institute at the University of Oxford. He talks about what we can do to ensure that humanity lasts a billion years. The interview has been edited to make it clearer.

You want people to protect the future of humanity. Are you talking about a long time in the future?

We do not know how long civilization will last. It might be a long time. mammals last for a million years The humans have existed for 300,000 years. 700,000 years is how long it would take. We can live for hundreds of trillions of years if we escape Earth and take the stars.

Earthlings flying out across the universe to find a home on another planet sounds like fiction.

We can't do that right now. There is no reason why we can't do that with continued technological progress and the patience to do so over hundreds of millions of years.

If we have the ability to harm people in the future, we can benefit them as well. There are some things that people can do to protect the future.

We think about protecting humans tens of thousands of years into the future when we store and bury nuclear waste. The creation of political institutions or legal systems can be beneficial in the short term but also far into the future.

We don't know how the things we do can have long-term effects. Is there an example you can give?

Some examples from the past. The world today is not the same as it was when early hunter-gatherers lived there. There used to be a wide range of megafauna, including giant ground sloths and dire wolves. The evidence shows that human beings killed off many beautiful creatures by overhunting or changing the environment. Today, there are fewer large animals.

We've made amazing advances in science and technology. You say that we're in a unique position to make a difference. What's the reason?

Fast technological progress is still happening. New technology could be very good for humanity, but also risky. There is one category. We're able to create new vaccines more quickly, but we're also able to create new pathogens that could cause the extinction of the human race.

Another is artificial intelligence. Today's A.I. models have the power of an insect brain. That will change over time. The computational power of the human brain will begin to increase.

That sounds interesting. What is that risk?

One of the most important inventions of all time will be the development of human-level artificial intelligence. Abundance and prosperity could be created for everyone if it were possible. It's possible that power gets concentrated into the hands of a small group of people who benefit from the gains, and then use A.I. to gain power for themselves.

These technologies are in the early stages of development, so we have the power to choose how they are used, whether they help or hurt us.

It's correct.

Climate change is one of the ways that civilization could be wiped out. You think biowarfare is the greatest threat. What do we do to protect ourselves from a disaster?

Projects for early detection can be implemented. Some work in this area has been funded by the Future Fund. People can take samples of wastewater around the world to see if there are any diseases that haven't been seen before. We could have a quicker response to future Pandemics if there were.

Future Fund is helping to fund technology called Far- UVC lighting. If it's implanted into a light bulb, it uses a small spectrum of light to kill all the pathogens in a room. We need to do more studies to see if it's okay for humans to be underneath that light for a long period of time.

People are using technology for good. A perfect future for humans is something we should discuss.

We don't have a lot of imagination in this area. There's a lot of futuristic fiction. There isn't a lot of fiction about utopia.

It is possible that the future could be very good. In the last 300 years, we've made great strides. Three-quarters of the world was in forced labor in the 1700s. There was no drug to help you sleep. Englishmen wouldn't be able to travel very far. There was no one living in a democracy.

It's a failure of imagination to think that a good future is the same as a good life. Imagine if life for everyone were as good as the best days of your life. Take that and make it 10 times or 100 times better. If we play our cards right, the future could be great.

What can humans do in the future?

Half a billion years is how long life on Earth will last because of the sun. Unless the sun's time period is extended, that is guaranteed. Future generations may be able to use the technology to do that. They may be able to suck out some of the hydrogen in the sun to make it smaller. They could keep the sun burning for billions of years if they returned the hydrogen when the sun started cooling down.

That sounds like something out of a science fiction movie.

The basic physics of space is easy to understand. Gas clouds are very predictable in how they coalescing in space.

5,000 years from now, what actions can people take that could affect people's lives?

10% of your income should be donated to the most effective Climate charities. Think about a career change

Is it okay to like doing what?

Artificial intelligence systems need safe design. Work in think tanks or government institutions to make sure we have sensible regulation that can benefit from the use of artificial intelligence. Try to boost some of the defensive technology within the industry, like creating vaccines quickly or very good PPE so we can be protected against novel pathogens.

Is my job important?

Good speakers and writers can help inspire others to leave their seats and use their time and money to make the world a better place.