How important are future generations?

Abstract

At 80,000 Hours, we think it’s really important to find the causes in which you can make the most difference. One important consideration in evaluating causes is how much we should care about their impact on future generations. Important new research by a trustee of CEA (our parent charity) Nick Beckstead, argues that the impact on the long-term direction of civilization is likely to be the most important consideration in working out the importance of a cause. Briefly: Barring a disaster, the Earth will remain habitable for about a billion years, and many millions of future generations could come after us.