xoriff

Re: point 2, can't you take that to the logical extreme and say "there are an effectively infinite number of future humans. Therefore all present humans are infinitely unimportant by comparison"?

I wasn't trying to actually argue that point. Was trying to use the absurdity of the conclusion to suggest that there must be some kind of extra nuance (which op does get at by mentioning people who are close to us). Was just trying to suggest that maybe there's also a sense of "close to me in time" in addition to "close to me socially".