Here’s a curious mind-game thought:
If homo sapiens, as a species, survive for another 1,000,000 years, then 99.5% of all humans that will ever live have not yet been born. Should the wellness of these folks born fifty or five thousand generations after our death matter to us? Do we owe these future earthlings any care or consideration?
I imagine most people would agree that we owe our more immediate heirs a duty of care. However, as that group gets more distant and anonymous, our sense of responsibility may diminish. The trade-offs we will have to make in 2023 for the betterment of those born in the future are real and costly. These sacrifices are more than polluting less and recycling more, but also question whether the moral and political choices we make today are for a better (however defined) tomorrow in tens of thousands of years later. Does our selfish, often hedonistic or secular lifestyle put at risk the 99.5% of unborn future citizens who currently have no vote or voice, but a vesting interest in their own livelihood and wellness?
The philosopher William MacAskill* has researched this “longtermism*” question for over ten years. He poses some fascinating questions and opportunities for our generation. NEVER, in the history of mankind has so much change and progress occurred in a such a short time (the last 70 years), and this rate of improvement is unsustainable. Physically, there are not enough resources, yet alone atoms, for 1% or 2% annual growth to continue for thousands of years. Already the stress of our growth is presenting challenges, and it not just about climate change. Inequities, totalitarian regimes, artificial intelligence, resource scarcities, and expanding expectations all challenge the future, as current stakeholders battle for their preferred goals and ignore the prospects of even our immediate successors.
Improved wellness encourages selflessness, tolerance and compromise. We owe the future a great deal, so it would be timely if we began to actively think of your offspring born in the very distant future. They deserve our attention.
Reflection Source: www.Smallercup.org
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*: What We Owe the Future, A Million-Year View by William MacAskill