Whatever governance preventing the overlords from appearing could also be used to prevent the humans from wasting resources in space. For example, by requiring that distant colonies are populated with humans or other minds who are capable of either governing themselves or being multilaterally agreed to be moral patients (e.g. this excludes controversial stuff like shrimps on heroin).
Why do you think that requiring that distant colonies are populated with humans would prevent wasting resources in space?
My guess is that, on a mature population ethics, the best uses of resources—on purely welfarist values, ignoring non-welfarist values which I do think are important—will look either like a smaller population of minds much “larger” than humans (i.e. galactic utility monsters) or look like a large population of minds much “smaller” than humans (i.e. shrimps on heroin).
It would be a coincidence if the optional allocation of resources involved minds which were exactly the same “size” as humans.
Note that this would be a coincidence on any of the currently popular theories of population ethics (e.g. average, total, variable-value).
Why do you think that requiring that distant colonies are populated with humans would prevent wasting resources in space?
My guess is that, on a mature population ethics, the best uses of resources—on purely welfarist values, ignoring non-welfarist values which I do think are important—will look either like a smaller population of minds much “larger” than humans (i.e. galactic utility monsters) or look like a large population of minds much “smaller” than humans (i.e. shrimps on heroin).
It would be a coincidence if the optional allocation of resources involved minds which were exactly the same “size” as humans.
Note that this would be a coincidence on any of the currently popular theories of population ethics (e.g. average, total, variable-value).