Infinity in ethics
Center on Long-Term Risk, 2020
Abstract
Several important questions arise when considering the ethics of creating universes. Given that the actual universe is likely infinite and contains infinitely many conscious beings, does creating or refraining from creating more universes have any moral implications? How can we mathematically represent our intuitions about the significance of these implications? How can we compare the impact of creating universes artificially versus naturally, given that both processes are infinite? The author surveys the philosophical literature and raises further questions about the application of concepts such as measure theory and infinite cardinalities to these ethical considerations – AI-generated abstract.
