What We Owe the Future

Imagine a life that spans the entirety of human history — every birth, every death, every ordinary moment lived by every person who has ever existed. This life would stretch across nearly four trillion years, a timescale so vast it dwarfs our everyday experience. Such a perspective reveals the profound truth that the future is not just some distant abstract concept; it is the vast majority of human existence. From the dawn of Homo sapiens in Africa to the present day, our shared story is one of gradual progress, hardship, and astonishing change. Yet, even this immense past is but a fraction of what lies ahead if humanity endures.

Consider the moral implications of this immensity. The people alive today are a tiny fraction of all those who will ever live. If humanity survives for just a million years at current population levels, the future generations will outnumber us ten thousand to one. This means that the interests of future people carry immense weight and that we have a profound ethical responsibility to consider their welfare.

Yet, future people cannot vote, lobby, or speak for themselves. They are utterly disenfranchised, unable to influence the decisions that will shape their lives. This asymmetry challenges us to expand our moral circle beyond the present, to embrace a longterm perspective that values all humans regardless of when they live.

Our era is unique, marked by rapid economic growth, technological innovation, and global interconnectedness. For most of human history, growth was slow or stagnant. Today, the world economy doubles in size roughly every two decades, a pace unprecedented in history. This rapid change means we stand at a moment of plasticity, where our choices can set civilization on vastly different trajectories for millennia to come.

Understanding the vastness of the future and the moral significance of future people invites us to rethink our priorities. It calls us to act wisely, with humility and foresight, recognizing that what we do today echoes through eternity. As we conclude this reflection on the immensity of the future, let us move forward to explore how the values we hold today can shape the course of history for generations yet unborn.