Milliongenerations talk:Foundation

THIS IS A DISCUSSION PAGE. Please add, kindly do not remove or substantially alter other's contributions but add your own, possibly with arguments why it is superior.

Drafts for a Vision statement

The goal of milliongenerations.org is that while life is possible on this planet there will be at least one civilization evolved from today's with individuals realizing that life is wonderful.

Alternatively:

• instead of "while life is possible on this planet" could be "in a billion years".
• The goal of milliongenerations.org is to maximize happiness.

Ideas for a statement of values

milliongenerations.org assumes that

• Life is wonderful
• Others exist and can exist in the future who are able to feel the same way
• Human beings are able to feel happiness (whatever that is), and it is a good thing when they do
• Existence is a necessary precondition for happiness
• Civilization allows individuals to refine and pass on knowledge and to collectively apply it
• The application of knowledge can lead to a happier life, to letting more individuals exist at any one time and to increase the chances of long term survival of the species
• Biological life is possible on this planet earth for at least another billion years
• In the long run it is obvious that any descendants are our common descendants.

milliongenerations.org concludes that

• We should strive to maximize happiness
• The vast majority of individuals can exist in the future
• The vast majority of happiness comes from individuals other than ourselves, mostly from individuals living in the future
• We should thus strive to create conditions to let civilization continue while life is possible on this planet, for at least another billion years
• We should not let technology replace us, as we can never be sure that technology can experience life like we do

Regarding the collaboration, milliongenerations.org assumes that

• The perspective of looking back from a future assumed as almost infinite hopes to make conclusions on some issues a lot easier and convincing than they would be based on projections.
• The process of thinking along these lines clarifies the concept of sustainability, the goal of survival of civilizations and the value of life, future life.
• The perspective of the goal to continue civilization and to increase happiness can valuably contribute to a frame of reference by which to define design objectives and policy initiatives and assess proposed solutions independently of particular agendas
• Contributions of many can result in more insights than thinking of one
• Online sharing opens up new, valuable ways of collaboration
• With many minds contemplating the subject from a well defined perspective, we can hope for the emergence of viable visions about how civilization could continue beyond the next few generations. Such visions in turn might be more readily adopted and appropriate actions taken if the goal were understood by many. We might find that continuing civilization could actually be feasible after all. It is worth a sincere effort.