Longtermism

The ethical position that we should give significant moral weight to the welfare of future generations — and that since the potential future population vastly outnumbers those alive today, reducing existential risks is among the most important moral priorities.

Astronomical stakes: if humanity has a long future (millions or billions of years), the expected number of future people vastly exceeds the current population. Even a small improvement in the probability of humanity's long-term flourishing outweighs almost all near-term benefits. Existential risk prioritization: the most urgent priority is reducing risks that could permanently destroy humanity's potential (AI misalignment, bioweapons, nuclear war). Strong and weak longtermism: strong longtermism holds that almost all moral weight lies with the future; weak longtermism simply adds future generations to our moral consideration.