If one must choose between a permanent loss of human life and some temporary discomfort, it doesn’t make sense to prefer the permanent loss of life, regardless of the intensity of the discomfort.
This choice doesn’t exist; permanent death is inevitable under known physics. All lifespans are finite because the time the universe will support consciousness is most likely finite, whether because of heat death or the big rip. This finiteness makes your “you save one life, and 7 billion humans suffer for 100 billion years” question not at all obvious. Saving a life is not avoiding death; it is postponing it. Thus, you could rewrite your scenario as: “should I give someone 80 extra years of normal life before they die, if in exchange, instead of dying at their normal time, 7 billion humans are tortured for 100 billion years and then die.” Under a Rawlsian veil of ignorance, I would not choose to “save the life” in this scenario. Even if that person survived until the end of the black hole farming era, I probably still wouldn’t choose it. There is too much chance that I will end up being one of the tortured. (Though a 10−10 chance of 1068 years of life against 1011 years of torture is pretty tempting on an expected value basis, so I’m not sure.)
As others have commented, I also think the reversibility of suffering is a weak point. We do not know how hard it is. It may have the same difficulty level as resurrection. But, if you specify that the finite span of torture happens instead of normal death, you avoid this.
This choice doesn’t exist; permanent death is inevitable under known physics. All lifespans are finite because the time the universe will support consciousness is most likely finite, whether because of heat death or the big rip. This finiteness makes your “you save one life, and 7 billion humans suffer for 100 billion years” question not at all obvious. Saving a life is not avoiding death; it is postponing it. Thus, you could rewrite your scenario as: “should I give someone 80 extra years of normal life before they die, if in exchange, instead of dying at their normal time, 7 billion humans are tortured for 100 billion years and then die.” Under a Rawlsian veil of ignorance, I would not choose to “save the life” in this scenario. Even if that person survived until the end of the black hole farming era, I probably still wouldn’t choose it. There is too much chance that I will end up being one of the tortured. (Though a 10−10 chance of 1068 years of life against 1011 years of torture is pretty tempting on an expected value basis, so I’m not sure.)
As others have commented, I also think the reversibility of suffering is a weak point. We do not know how hard it is. It may have the same difficulty level as resurrection. But, if you specify that the finite span of torture happens instead of normal death, you avoid this.