Good question. I think it has to be the latter, given the immense time involved....

		wat10000 40 days ago \| parent \| context \| favorite \| on: Guess I'm a rationalist now Good question. I think it has to be the latter, given the immense time involved. You can make a connection between driving progress in certain areas today and increasing the odds that humanity eventually colonizes the stars. I don’t think you can make any connection with how well off those far-future humans will be.

If that's what's meant, it's a hilarious perversion of utilitarianism.