You linked to an article on existential security—“a place of safety—a place where existential risk is low and stays low”—which implies all that matters is risk minimization, rather than utility maximization with some risk discounting.
Existential risk is just the probability that a large portion of the future’s value is lost. “Small chances of heaven can counterbalance small chances of hell.” implies that it’s about reducing the risk of hell, when in fact it’s equally concerned with the absence of Heaven.
Ok that is an unexpected interpretation as it’s not how I typically think of ‘risk’, but yes if that’s the intended interpretation it resolves my objection.
Existential risk is just the probability that a large portion of the future’s value is lost. “Small chances of heaven can counterbalance small chances of hell.” implies that it’s about reducing the risk of hell, when in fact it’s equally concerned with the absence of Heaven.
Ok that is an unexpected interpretation as it’s not how I typically think of ‘risk’, but yes if that’s the intended interpretation it resolves my objection.