Video: There are vast tragedies happening right now that we are failing to see

There are transparent monsters in the world. TheyÂ 
are enormous, but they walk mostly unseen. You canÂ Â 

only see them if you squint hard enough or if youÂ 
recognize the distortions they produce on light.Â Â 

Monsters leave destruction in their wake, but notÂ 
everyone can recognize the destruction as such.Â Â 

In any given era of humanity, only a fewÂ 
people know that transparent monsters exist.

The first few who recognize a monsterÂ 
often speak up. A few others join them,Â Â 

and the cause grows. The more people seeÂ 
the monster, the more visible it becomes.

During this process, and even after everyoneÂ 
can see the monster, some people will defend it.Â Â 

They'll say it's a necessaryÂ 
evil or actually beneficial.Â Â 

Maybe they'll say that it protectsÂ 
us from an even bigger monster.

Most of the time, theseÂ 
arguments don't last. In the end,Â Â 

most of humanity bands togetherÂ 
to take the monster down.Â Â 

As a result, we become better and stronger.
But we only know of the victories. HistoryÂ Â 

doesnâ€™t sing of those who werenâ€™t believed.Â 
Those who died, broken and alienated. ThoseÂ Â 

who are still alive, shouting without beingÂ 
heard. There are monsters in the world today.Â Â 

You might see some of them, but you donâ€™tÂ 
see all of them. Probably no one does.Â 

Consider... slavery: itâ€™s a monster thatÂ 
predates written records, and it took untilÂ Â 

the 19th century to become visible to most of theÂ 
world. Some forms of slavery are still present,Â Â 

we have not eradicated it yet, but itÂ 
is now widely recognized as a tragedy.

Philosophers in ancient Greece wereÂ 
preoccupied with understanding whatÂ Â 

a virtuous man should do. And yet,Â 
they believed slavery to be good,Â Â 

partly because of a differentÂ 
conception of virtue than today.

Here is what Aristotle writesÂ 
in The Politics: â€œ[...] ButÂ Â 

is there any one thus intendedÂ 
by nature to be a slave,Â Â 

and for whom such a condition is expedient andÂ 
right, or rather is not all slavery a violation ofÂ Â 

nature? There is no difficulty in answering thisÂ 
question, on grounds both of reason and of fact.Â Â 

For that some should rule and others be ruledÂ 
is a thing not only necessary, but expedient;Â Â 

from the hour of their birth, some are markedÂ 
out for subjection, others for rule [...]â€Â 

Many other philosophers acrossÂ 
the ages had similar opinions,Â Â 

such as Plato, Homer, St Augustine, Aquinas,Â 
and more. Slavery was also considered a positiveÂ Â 

good by most politicians and intellectuals onÂ 
the southern side of the American civil war.Â 

But more importantly, slavery has beenÂ 
considered a normal part of life for millenniaÂ Â 

of human history by many cultures,Â 
nationalities, and religions. Thatâ€™sÂ Â 

what made it a transparent monster.
But slavery is not the only exampleÂ Â 

of a transparent monster thatÂ 
we are now able to recognize.

Consider how Aristotle continues that passageÂ 
about slaves: â€œ [...] Again, the male is byÂ Â 

nature superior, and the female inferior; and theÂ 
one rules, and the other is ruled; this principle,Â Â 

of necessity, extends to all mankind. [...]â€
History is filled with these once-invisibleÂ Â 

monsters: the subjugation of women, the slaughterÂ 
of foreigners, and the persecution of peopleÂ Â 

based on religion, ethnicity, or sexualÂ 
orientation. Itâ€™s very easy to be obliviousÂ Â 

to large and pervasive moral problems and evenÂ 
unknowingly commit tragedies of vast proportions.

So we might ask: given our past,Â 
how likely is it that we know aboutÂ Â 

all of the monsters? How likely is it that allÂ 
the people who shout about new monsters are wrong?Â 

It doesnâ€™t seem likely at all. AndÂ 
we have evidence against this idea:Â Â 

even in the last few years, certainÂ 
monsters have become much more visible.

Humanity is just awakening about our treatment ofÂ 
animals, for example. It may be that in the notÂ Â 

too distant future, such a tragedy will be solvedÂ 
by technology, with the help of lab-grown meat.Â 

The evolution of morality through history is,Â 
in part, a process of moral circle expansion. IfÂ Â 

at first slaves werenâ€™t consideredÂ 
worthy of moral consideration,Â Â 

now we consider all of humanity to have suchÂ 
rights. Future humanity might include animals asÂ Â 

uncontroversially as we include all humans today.
Or, even more radically: in the future,Â Â 

we might include all creatures capableÂ 
of some form of subjective experience.

This leads us to a consideration: monsters donâ€™tÂ 
necessarily have to spring from human actions.Â Â 

They might be tragedies hidden in theÂ 
natural world that might be uncoveredÂ Â 

only through increased scientific understanding.

For example, more understanding may help us drawÂ 
the line between what suffers and what doesnâ€™t.Â Â 

If we include wild animals in our moral circle,Â 
we still have to grapple with questions such as:Â Â 

â€œwhere do we draw the line between what isÂ 
conscious and what is not? What creatures areÂ Â 

capable of suffering and to what extent?â€ ConsiderÂ 
the possibility that insects might suffer. If thisÂ Â 

is true, then insects might collectively matterÂ 
enormously because of the sheer number of them.Â Â 

It is estimated that there are 100Â 
million to a billion insects forÂ Â 

every human aliveâ€”making up quite a largeÂ 
monster if they are capable of suffering.Â Â 

We will confirm or falsify its existence onlyÂ 
through increased scientific understanding.Â 

But other than science and moral circleÂ 
expansion, in what ways can individuals hopeÂ Â 

to spot monsters? A pattern you might haveÂ 
noticed is that in every case I mentioned,Â Â 

the creatures subject to the tragedy wereÂ 
similar to us in key ways: Slaves are humans,Â Â 

and animals exhibit complex behavior. So,Â 
one way to spot a monster is by recognizingÂ Â 

the similarities between other beings and us.Â 
Plus, some introspection is probably necessary:Â Â 

you might ask yourself something along theÂ 
lines of â€œwould I like to be in the place ofÂ Â 

that being?â€ if the question makes sense, and ifÂ 
the answer is â€œnoâ€, you might be onto something.Â Â 

I donâ€™t know if this reasoning wouldÂ 
help, but we might as well try.Â 

Another trick that you could use is this: AskÂ 
yourself what a more enlightened humanity wouldÂ Â 

think. For example, suppose you spotted the trendÂ 
of moral circle expansion and extrapolated it intoÂ Â 

the future. In that case, you might guess whatÂ 
the morality of future humans will look like,Â Â 

and potentially you might want to adopt it.
There are many more considerations that youÂ Â 

could make and many different waysÂ 
to search for monsters. For now,Â Â 

remember to watch out for them. Suffering mightÂ 
be hidden, and your moral assumptions might changeÂ Â 

upon more reflection. Common moral intuitionsÂ 
might be wrong, and sometimes they are fake.Â Â 

Similarities between living beings and using aÂ 
more enlightened humanity as a guide might helpÂ Â 

you. The next video will cover another approachÂ 
to finding monsters. It will be completelyÂ Â 

different. If you are curious, stay tuned.
Hey, scriptwriter and owner of the channel here.Â Â 

I just wanted to conclude theÂ 
video by thanking our patrons.Â 

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