Should people who care about the long-term future focus on reducing the risk of human extinction, or instead on trying to make the world go better in futures where humanity survives a long time?

ESSAY 

The thesis statement/ Topic:  

Should people who care about the long-term future focus on reducing the risk of human extinction, or instead on trying to make the world go better in futures where humanity survives a long time?

Some useful sources (can use other sources):

• Reducing existential risk: https://80000hours.org/articles/existential-risks/

• Existential Risk Prevention as Global Priority:

• https://existential-risk.com/concept.pdf

• https://globalprioritiesinstitute.org/david-thorstad-high-risk-low-reward-a-challenge-to-the-astronomical-value-of-existential-risk-mitigation/

• Novel: What We Owe The Future, from Prof. William MacAskill, presents new ideas and ways to look at humanity’s future, it is one source among many that you may find helpful for your research; you don’t need to agree with the author’s ideas. (should definitely use some good references from the novel)

General Criteria:

• Depth of knowledge: you should demonstrate that you have done your research and that you have a good understanding of the topic at hand.

• Writing style: you should express your ideas clearly and concisely. You should also structure your essay in a way that makes it easy to follow.

• Originality of the argument: If you are not sure whether your argument is original enough, here are some indicators that it might be: You have identified a gap in the existing discourse and filled it with your unique perspective. You have taken an unpopular stance, yet your argument is well-founded and thought-provoking. You combined knowledge and methodologies from different disciplines.

• Depth and quality of your analysis: We want you to see whether you have engaged critically with the most relevant work in the field, and how well you have used evidence and logical reasoning to support your arguments or proposals.