A brain, rational or not, can produce the “terminal value” state (or output, or qualia?) when presented with the habitat or biodiversity concepts. This can be independent of their instrumental value, which, on average, probably diminishes with technological progress. But it’s also easy to imagine cases where the instrumental value of nature increases as our ability to understand and manipulate it grows.
A brain, rational or not, can produce the “terminal value” state (or output, or qualia?) when presented with the habitat or biodiversity concepts. This can be independent of their instrumental value, which, on average, probably diminishes with technological progress. But it’s also easy to imagine cases where the instrumental value of nature increases as our ability to understand and manipulate it grows.