Two kinds of strategy
To have the best impact on the future, we can use two kinds of strategy:
- Broad: they try to have a good impact in many different scenarios.
- Targeted: they try to have a good impact in specific scenarios.
Pros and cons
- A targeted strategy can have a huge impact if the scenario it was planned for actually happens. If it doesn't, it might be useless.
- A broad strategy has a positive effect in almost every scenario, even without our knowing what the future will be like.
An example of a broad strategy
One of the most important broad strategies is increasing consideration for all sentient beings in society. For that, it's important to:
- consider all sentient beings, including those who usually get forgotten, like aquatic animals, invertebrates, and possible digital minds in the future;
- care about all kinds of harm, not only those caused by humans, but also natural ones and those that might come up in the future.
The more widely this consideration spreads, the better the chances of preventing s-risks, whatever the future turns out to be.
Targeted strategies
Examples of targeted strategies would be working specifically on how artificial intelligence will treat sentient beings, or on rules for space colonization.
In short
- Broad strategies help in many scenarios; targeted ones, in specific scenarios.
- Increasing consideration for all sentient beings is a broad strategy.
- It should include all beings and all kinds of harm.