I agree that this is a slightly weird conflict within my own ethical system. The reason that I brought it up here is that this particular conflict follows from a few seemingly plausible claims about marginal value of lives, plus the standard LessWrong beliefs that death (for an individual) and extinction (for our species) are both very bad things. I’m curious whether this is an implicit tension in many people’s views, or whether somebody has found an adequate solution which I’m not yet aware of.
I agree that this is a slightly weird conflict within my own ethical system. The reason that I brought it up here is that this particular conflict follows from a few seemingly plausible claims about marginal value of lives, plus the standard LessWrong beliefs that death (for an individual) and extinction (for our species) are both very bad things. I’m curious whether this is an implicit tension in many people’s views, or whether somebody has found an adequate solution which I’m not yet aware of.
I can see the appeal of population turnover, but don’t personally find it a persuasive reason to kill people.