Right now, every powerful intelligence (e.g. nation-states) is built out of humans, so the only way for such organizations to thrive is to make sure the constituent humans thrive, for instance by ensuring food, clean air and access to accurate information.
I’m rejecting the notion that humans thrive because humans individually value thriving. Like, some humans do so, to some extent, but there’s quite a few mentally ill people who act in self-destructive ways. Historically, sometimes you end up with entire nations bound up in self-destructive vindictiveness (Gaza being a modern example). The ultimate backstop that keeps this limited is the fact that those who prioritize their own people’s thriving as the #1 priority are much better at birthing the next generation and winning wars.
Of course this backstop generates intermediate moralities that do make humans more directly value their own thriving, so there’s still some space for intentional human choice.
I guess I should add:
I’m rejecting the notion that humans thrive because humans individually value thriving. Like, some humans do so, to some extent, but there’s quite a few mentally ill people who act in self-destructive ways. Historically, sometimes you end up with entire nations bound up in self-destructive vindictiveness (Gaza being a modern example). The ultimate backstop that keeps this limited is the fact that those who prioritize their own people’s thriving as the #1 priority are much better at birthing the next generation and winning wars.
Of course this backstop generates intermediate moralities that do make humans more directly value their own thriving, so there’s still some space for intentional human choice.