Join us on Thursday March 16th for a joint debate night between both associations, as well as a nice social afterwards! Learn about interesting topics, meet people and do some public speaking! This event is fully accessible to beginners.
There will be three motions. The themes of the motions are given with a short explanation:
Longtermism:
In practice, humanity’s priorities indicate a strong preference for benefiting people in the short term. Most people today would agree that the value of a human life doesn’t depend on where you happen to be born. But if space doesn’t matter for the moral worth of people, why would time?
Existential Risk:
X-risks are risks that threaten the destruction of the long-term potential of humanity, or life in general. This could mean extinction, but also an unrecoverable collapse or permanent failure to achieve a potential worthwhile future.
Why is this important? Consider that there is a 10% chance of an x-risk every century (this is a common estimate, but the same arguments works for higher or lower estimates). This would mean that after a couple of millenia, humanity is most likely finished. However, if we could reduce this 10% to near zero, humanity would suddenly have billions or trillions of years in front of it, a future many many times grander than the past and present. Therefore, efforts to reduce x-risks, e.g. from advanced AI and engineered pandemics, are of the utmost importance.
Effective Altruism:
Often, the act of doing something that helps other people, for example donating to charities, is seen as a morally good thing to do, regardless of the impact their efforts have. Consider the following 3 people, where B’s action are often considered more moral than those of A, while B and C are rarely distinguished
A: Never donates or helps anyone in general
B: Donates 5000 euro to an ineffective charity and ends up having an impact on the world that is either small, non-existent or even negative
C: Donates 5000 euro to an effective charity and ends up saving a whole human life
The event starts at 18:30
LOCATION: TU/e, Atlas, Rooms TBD
NOTE: Choosing what side of the debate to be on is not an option. You will be randomly assigned.
QUESTIONS? Email: chair@esdachronos.nl