We are talking about a far future of people whose sense of self-preservation is so strong that they are willing to place their continued existence, presumably a

We are talking about a far future of people whose sense of self-preservation is so strong that they are willing to place their continued existence, presumably at their current level of comfort and power, ahead of every single other concern in the universe. (Anyone else who did not already checked out "on their own terms" as xxvector says.) I'm not persuaded that they will be inclined to make any significant sacrifices for the good for the rest of humanity or for future generations. [EDIT] I knew I was reminded of something from SF. Quoting from the Wikipedia article for Pierson's Puppeteers from Niven's writings: > "In Ringworld, Nessus, a Puppeteer, explains how his race's cowardice is partly a result of a science experiment (the details of which are not given) that proves the Puppeteers have nothing equivalent to an immortal soul, and therefore death is, for their species, eternal oblivion. As a result, the Puppeteer race is fanatically devoted to its own safety...."