Yes, but scientific¹ progress would make both FAI and uFAI more likely.
Actually you mean “technological”—figuring out whether neutrinos are Majorana particles isn’t going to be very relevant to existential risk in the short and middle term, but your arguments still apply (even more, because private enterprises are usually more interested in applied research than in pure research).
I don’t think that this is completely obvious to me. It wouldn’t have been obvious in say 1930 that investigation of atoms would lead to a serious existential risk, or any substantial new technologies for that matter. If some aspect of basic physics presents a more efficient computing substrate, or a new source of energy, that could easily have an impact (albeit not necessarily directly).
Yes, but scientific¹ progress would make both FAI and uFAI more likely.
Actually you mean “technological”—figuring out whether neutrinos are Majorana particles isn’t going to be very relevant to existential risk in the short and middle term, but your arguments still apply (even more, because private enterprises are usually more interested in applied research than in pure research).
I don’t think that this is completely obvious to me. It wouldn’t have been obvious in say 1930 that investigation of atoms would lead to a serious existential risk, or any substantial new technologies for that matter. If some aspect of basic physics presents a more efficient computing substrate, or a new source of energy, that could easily have an impact (albeit not necessarily directly).
Well, I guess that depends on what I meant by “short and middle term”.