Why Existential Risks Matter: A Utilitarian Perspective

Should people who care about the long-term future focus on reducing the risk of human extinction, or instead on trying to make the world go better in a future where humanity survives for a long time?

People who care about the long-term future should focus on reducing the risk of human extinction rather than trying to make the world go better in a future where humanity survives a long time.

Existential risks are risks whose consequences are significant enough to threaten humanity as a whole, even leading to its global extinction. For a successful long-term future, the most significant priority would be “having a future.” Without focusing on reducing existential risks, humanity will not be able to utilize the ‘better world’ of the future because they will simply not be alive.

There are a myriad of existential risks, most namely natural catastrophes and nuclear wars.
The devastating consequences of each existential risk–or even a sliver of it–makes it imperative for us to make decisions for the greater good.

Preventing existential risks is therefore also appealing in ethical aspects. Following the utilitarianism view, which supports acts that bring happiness for the greatest number of people– reducing existential risks, which has a positive effect on a significant number of people, emerges as a favorable moral choice.

However, humanity also faces limitations. Due to their infrequent nature, existential risks are poorly understood by people. Improving our ability to avoid and react to existential risks through building collective wisdom, technological advancements, and rapid mobility would certainly help humanity to resolve this limitation. Long-term programs such as supporting studies about existential risks and developing technological strategies are also imperative.

It is by our efforts to prevent existential risks that we successfully make a better future. Improving our ability for an efficient response in the face of existential risks leads to better technology and knowledge, eventually leading to a safer world for humanity.