ForeCast [Article] Introducing Better Futures
Oct 7, 2025
Explore the intriguing debate on whether humanity should prioritize survival or flourishing. William MacAskill discusses the distinction between merely existing and truly thriving. He argues that focusing on flourishing could have a more significant impact than just avoiding catastrophe. Delve into why this often-overlooked topic deserves more attention and learn about the challenges of making flourishing a reality. MacAskill also introduces 'viatopia,' advocating for flexible visions of positive futures instead of rigid utopias.
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Two Paths To Better Futures
- There are two broad ways to help the future: surviving (avoiding near-zero futures) and flourishing (improving the quality given survival).
- William MacAskill argues flourishing may be as important as survival because it can have much larger room for improvement.
Flourishing Often Outscales Survival
- The scale argument compares room for improvement: if survival is already likely, improving flourishing can yield far bigger gains.
- MacAskill gives numerical examples showing flourishing can be dozens to thousands of times more impactful than raising survival.
Saved Worlds Might Still Need Improvement
- Worlds saved from catastrophe may still be lower-quality, reducing the value of increasing survival compared to improving flourishing.
- Conversely, improving flourishing likely benefits worlds regardless of their baseline survival probability.
