Longtermism

tl;dr

Longtermism is Nick Bostrom’s update for the Singularity – a religious cult for the (tech) wealthy, backed by the likes of Thiel and Musk to provide a moral philosophy for their appalling behavior.

Thiel and Musk bankroll this philosophy and the political project described in From the Californian Ideology to the Texan Ideology. The same money underwrites the moral cover and the machinery.

A Reading List on Longtermism

Émile P. Torres has been the lone fighter on this beat for some time:

• Why longtermism is the world’s most dangerous secular credo
• The Dangerous Ideas of “Longtermism” and “Existential Risk”
• How Elon Musk sees the future: His bizarre sci-fi vision should concern us all
• Understanding “longtermism”: Why this suddenly influential philosophy is so toxic

Good to see others chiming in:

• [Longtermism is merely a more acceptable mask for transhumanism

  Velcro City Tourist Board](https://www.velcro-city.co.uk/longtermism-is-merely-a-more-acceptable-mask-for-transhumanism/) by Paul Graham Raven

• Against Jackpot-Longtermism by Dave Karpf (s. also The Jackpot)
• Timnit Gebru: “How can we let it be known far & wide that there’s a religion in Silicon Valley (longtermism/effective altruism & similar) that has convinced itself that the best thing to do for “all of humanity” is to throw as much money as possible to the problem of “AGI”…”