I can not know whether me personally, as a specific individual, buying an electric car to go to work is better or worse for the ecosystem than buying a used fuel efficient ICE.
I can know that all the carbon we dump in the air and the general carelessness with which we treat the planet on a large scale are extremely detrimental to our civilisational wellbeing.
I btw highly recommended Breaking Boundaries on Netflix.
You really, really, really can not. For all you know, the impending doom of climate change could be the chaotic event that stops us from going full nuclear.
Or perhaps humans are bad fruit, and our form of space colonization is filled with rape, torture, and slavery. Perhaps it's better humans die.
One really, really, really can not know.
I really really really can’t know if the sun comes up tomorrow or 100 days from now either, but it is exceedingly likely and the same is true about my previous statement.
Disregard at your own (and all of our) peril.
I am in no way saying we shouldn't pursue it, or do our best. But simply admitting that we could be wrong is the first step to catching our own mistakes.
Being aware of our own ignorance is important. Extremely so. And failing to see it is a far greater source of peril than "depart[ing] into theoretical/philosophical mode"
But when you say: > Much the opposite. Yours is the belief which every war has been fought over: the belief that you know what's good and bad, or right and wrong.
I can also say that the same is true for all progress the world has seen. That some group of people made a decision and acted.
It’s about likelihoods. Everything can be wrong but some things are more likely than others.
Science, art, and creation all tend to be rich with ambiguity and uncertainty.
Most of the time, people hope they can do a thing and stick to it through many ups and downs. And the times when it works out, even the people who believed in it all along appear to be surprised.