Opinion by Christine Emba: “Longtermism” lures philanthropists away from current human needs
Longtermism relies on the theory that humans have evolved fairly recently, and thus we can expect our species to grow long into the future. The world’s current population is really a blip; if all goes well, a huge number of humans will come after us. Thus, if we’re reasoning rationally and impartially , we should tilt heavily toward paying attention to this larger future population’s concerns — not the concerns of people living right now.
It’s hard to argue against taking the long view. People tend to be shortsighted, and we talk constantly about leaving a better world for future generations. As much as the effective altruist community prides itself on evidence, reason and morality, there’s more than a whiff of selective rigor here. The turn to longtermism appears to be a projection of a hubris common to those in tech and finance, based on an unwarranted confidence in its adherents’ ability to predict the future and shape it to their liking.
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