16. The idea that global catastrophe will be personally painless

There is a natural tendency to think of global disaster by analogy to taking a bullet in the head: quick and painless. Yet global disaster could stretch out for decades or even centuries and provide profound misery to everyone involved. You might not be able to enjoy the benefit of dying so quickly. Even if you did, it seems irresponsible to discount global risk based on the anticipation that it would be like getting a bullet through the head. Others may not be so lucky, and humanity's entire future being lost has a profound negative value, even if doom were painless.