It's hard to take this seriously. It's more of a criticism of utilitarianism (and pretty much all moral reasoning) than longtermism. Utility is very much a thi

It's hard to take this seriously. It's more of a criticism of utilitarianism (and pretty much all moral reasoning) than longtermism. Utility is very much a thing, "commensuration" is very much a necessity. You/your country/the world have finite resources that are insufficient for the task at hand. You must choose some option (not choosing is a choice) and what option you choose reveals your moral inclination. At big enough scales, this sometimes just means saving some lives at the expense of others. That's just life. Also the implication that math is solely just some way to "argue" pet theories and not one of the best tools we have to understand and manipulate the world... is just insulting. (There are surely people who use it this way, but there is no intellectual tool that can't be used this way.)