> But wow, look how far we've arrived! But how far? And by what measure? If we had awe-inspiring technological progress, but only increased the suffering of

> But wow, look how far we've arrived! But how far? And by what measure? If we had awe-inspiring technological progress, but only increased the suffering of sentient beings, is that a win? Or is somehow scientific understanding, in and of itself, a worthwhile pursuit, and damn the consequences? As it stands, we don't really have an accurate hedonic utilitarian measure we can use to decide if sentient beings are better off, even for humans. Though a cursory search leads me to the 'Gross National Well-being' measure, but such self-surveys aren't known to be reliable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_National_Well-being https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_National_Well-being