The Dangers of the "Galaxy Brain": A Conversation about Longtermism

Longtermism, an offshoot of Effective Altruism, is not just an injunction to consider the well-being of future generations. Rather, it provides a philosophical justification for de-emphasizing present social crises in order to pursue a Matrix-like future involving the colonization of space for billionaires and other elites. Sam Bankman-Fried was a proponent and funder of longtermist thinking, and Elon Musk has called it “a close match” for his own worldview.
Émile P. Torres is a scholar and activist who, with Timnit Gebru, coined the term TESCREALism to describe a cluster of transhumanist ideologies of which Longtermism (L) is the “galaxy brain.” A former Effective Altruist, Dr. Torres now sounds the alarm on TESCREAL’s association with eugenics, political violence, and ecological risk.
This conversation, recorded on October 25, 2023, was co-sponsored by MIT Radius, the Office of Religious and Ethical Life at MIT, and the Humanist Chaplaincy at MIT and Harvard.