Key Points
- •Alternative to the precautionary principle developed by Max More
- •Argues that progress and innovation should be the default, not restriction
- •Emphasizes opportunity costs of preventing beneficial technologies
- •Calls for risk assessment balanced against potential benefits
- •Central to transhumanist and extropian approaches to emerging technology
Beyond Precaution
The proactionary principle is an alternative to the precautionary principle, developed by philosopher Max More. Where precaution says "don't deploy new technologies until proven safe," proaction says "don't restrict new technologies unless there's clear evidence of harm."
The proactionary principle is central to transhumanist and techno-optimist thinking.
The Problem with Precaution
The precautionary principle sounds reasonable: "better safe than sorry." But More and others argue it's deeply flawed:
Asymmetric risk assessment: Precaution focuses on risks from action while ignoring risks from inaction. Every technology not deployed, every medicine not approved, every enhancement not pursued has costs—people who die from diseases that might have been cured, opportunities forgone.
Status quo bias: Precaution treats the current state as a safe baseline, but the status quo kills people too. Current reality includes cancer, aging, poverty, and suffering that new technologies might address.
Unprovability of safety: It's impossible to prove something is safe under all possible conditions. Requiring proof of safety before action is equivalent to prohibiting action permanently.
Stifling innovation: Strict precaution would have prevented most historical innovations—fire, electricity, automobiles, vaccines—all of which have risks but massive benefits.
The Proactionary Alternative
The proactionary principle doesn't ignore risks. Instead, it calls for:
Benefit-risk assessment: Evaluate both potential benefits and potential harms, not just harms from action.
Freedom to experiment: People should be allowed to try new things, accepting known risks.
Proportionate response: Restrictions should be proportional to the probability and magnitude of harm, not based on worst-case speculation.
Reversibility consideration: Prefer reversible actions where possible, but don't require irreversibility as grounds for prohibition.
Learning by doing: We often can't know risks without trying things. Cautious experimentation generates knowledge.
Core Tenets
Max More's proactionary principle includes ten principles:
1. Freedom to innovate
2. Objectivity in assessing risks and benefits
3. Comprehensiveness in considering all relevant factors
4. Openness of information and criticism
5. Simplicity in regulatory approaches
6. Triage in prioritizing risks
7. Symmetry in risk assessment (act and not-act)
8. Proportionality of restrictions to actual risks
9. Prioritization of immediate risks over speculative ones
10. Revision of restrictions as evidence accumulates
Application to Emerging Technologies
For transhumanists, the proactionary principle supports:
- Gene therapy and human enhancement research
- Longevity science and life extension
- Brain-computer interface development
- AI research (though with appropriate safety work)
The principle doesn't mean ignoring risks—it means not letting fear of hypothetical harms prevent us from addressing real, current harms through technological progress.
