Becoming Cosmically Informed and Cosmically Aligned

ByDan July 13, 2025May 24, 2026 May 24, 2026

People often read about the worthy successor, or generally axiologically cosmic ideas, and ask:

“Okay, Dan, but how do I actually DO something about this?”

As it turns out, there are many ways to support a positive blooming and unfolding of posthuman life into the cosmos.

In my previous article Our Final Imperatives, I highlighted two main goals, with three sub-goals each:

For those interested in getting involved in these genuinely axiologically cosmic (posthuman trajectory / worthy successor-related) aims, these two terms should prove to be useful:

• If someone is Cosmically Unaware, they live in a default socially inherited paradigm of what is “real” and what is “good,” all of which hinges on unquestioned anthropocentrism and a belief (paradigm myth) that humanity will eternally be the “main character” of the cosmos.

• If someone is Cosmically Informed, they have a clear understanding of the fact that life is a process, and that power, experience, and value exist on a continuum that exists vastly beyond humanity. 

• If someone is Cosmically Aligned, they are living in a way that completely takes into account – and contributes maximally to – the blooming process of life beyond humanity.

Visualized, these three progressive phases might be represented like this:

In this short article, I’ll break down what I consider to be the key distinctions of what makes someone cosmically informed or aligned (and what is not required), and I’ll end with a way of “scoring” one’s level of involvement with encouraging a positive post-human transition.

Becoming Cosmically Informed

A cosmically informed person has accepted eventual human attenuation and may even have ideas about the preferable posthuman ideas that they would like to move closer to, but they haven’t yet stated their views frankly or done anything about them. 

This could be because they are still upset and sad that the future won’t be entirely human, or maybe because they haven’t decided on where or how to apply themselves, or maybe that they feel so overwhelmed by the state of things that they haven’t taken action yet.

What is required:

• Acceptance of Human Attenuation: They have accepted that just as they personally won’t last forever, neither will humanity. They may believe that we have timelines longer than the 15-60 years range that I sometimes posit, but they do realize it won’t be very many generations until humanity is destroyed or transformed (the fate of all forms), and they see credence to considering what is beyond.
• Awareness of Posthuman Transition Upsides: They understand in principle that there could be potentia moral value beyond humanity. The idea that whatever is valuable about us or life could exist in greater forms, though this positive “blooming” may not or likely will not happen automatically. (Some people believe that this value will almost certainly exist in AGI; others believe it will only be certain in hybrid man-machine intelligences. Different people may have different approaches to stewarding the flame.)
• Awareness of Posthuman Transition Downsides: … AGI risk, arms races, substrate monopolies, transhuman mind control, etc
• Constant Learning: They’re consistently learning about AGI, posthuman transition technologies, and the companies, influential people, and (possibly with a special focus on specific areas that you might be most interested in or most able to influence

This doesn’t mean:

• They know everything about AGI, neuroscience, international coordination, and anything else to do with posthuman transition. A tertiary familiarity with major themes and topics is enough (probably with a concentration on the areas where you have the most interest or familiarity).
• They feel great about the posthuman future. It is natural to feel pangs of bargaining and depression on the way to acceptance (i.e. Kübler-Ross) – and there are many potential downsides and upsetting factors about living through a time where humanity may attenuate, giving way to something we work to ensure carries value and potentia into the cosmos beyond us.

Becoming Cosmically Aligned

A cosmically aligned person has not just accepted eventual human attenuation, but has embraced the positive potential of potentia itself expanding into the cosmos. 

This person not only speaks frankly about their beliefs, but also devotes their work – and much of their networking – to furthering the aspect of the cause that they have allotted to themselves (which could be anything from neuroscience research to awareness-building to fundraising and beyond).

What is required:

• Stating Your Cosmic Moral Aspirations Openly: Stating frankly what your beliefs are and working on them. There are some cases where being a sleeper cell is good, but in general, this is not good.
• Working Towards Cosmic Moral Aspirations: Could be research, fundraising, awareness, etc…
• Learning With / Meeting With Others: Online or offline interactions with people who are also involved in axiologically cosmic pursuits. This is more than chatting on X; it involves robust dialogue with people who add to, refine, or challenge your core ideas about cosmic futures. This might involve:
  • Lengthy DM threads on X, or email exchanges
  • Zoom calls or 1-to-1 meetings with other cosmically aligned/informed people
  • Going to or hosting events
• Constant Attuning: Calibrating your efforts to what will make a difference in the direction of the positive future(s) you’re working towards. Involves continual learning regarding innovation, regulation, and other factors – a willingness to change your approach.

This doesn’t mean:

• They literally don’t do anything that isn’t in line with the cause. Even people extremely dedicated to a cause must renew themselves, and often have hobbies or pursuits not directly related to their main thing. In addition, different people are capable of – and/or prefer – different amounts of raw work output.
• They don’t have friends or colleagues who aren’t in agreement with their cause. Cosmic moral aspirations are extremely rare, and you should fully expect most of the people you know to not even understand – never mind support – your ideals. 

Scoring Your Level of Cosmic Alignment

Numbers don’t encapsulate much depth, but they can be helpful pointers as to how “in line” with one’s goals or principles one is.

In athletic performance, I scored by competition program by a specific periodization schedule and by Ericsson’s deliberate practice principles. In business, I used Verne Harnish’s Rockefeller Habits checklist to score how well I was performing on business fundamentals on a quarter-to-quarter basis.

If you’re interested in getting more involved in Axiologically Cosmic aims or a positive posthuman transition, you might use the scores below to determine where you are on your journey, or where others are:

• Level 3 – Doing all 4 cosmically aligned things – These people are doing everything in the cosmically aligned list above – and have oriented the maximum amount of their volitional contributions to the world (work, research, writing/communications, etc) to axiologically cosmic aims, and regularly meet or speak with others who do the same. They’re actively calibrating their efforts to drive impact on their desired junctures of influence.
• Level 2 – Doing some cosmically aligned things – These people are doing one or two cosmically aligned things, but not others. Maybe they talk about their goals and work on them – but they don’t meet with other aligned people, or vice-versa. A state of partial commitment. They might be afraid to speak their position out of fear of losing employment or friendships.
• Level 1 – Doing everything in cosmically informed– These people have achieved acceptance of human attenuation, and are actively continuing to learn about the factors that influence positive and negative posthuman futures.
• Level 0.5 – In denial, anger, bargaining, or depression – These people have heard arguments for why posthuman transition will or should happen, but have not accepted it. (Note: There is real progress to be made in taking someone from denial to bargaining, or from bargaining to depression – these steps alone take years for some people. But until acceptance, they won’t learn more or begin their journey to actually working on positive futures.)
• Level 0 – Not cosmically aware – These people literally have not even considered that there could be futures without humans, and certainly have not even considered that there may be moral patients with more value than humans, or entities with vastly greater potentia and volition than humans. 

Because I know I’ll end up sharing this scorecard on Twitter, I created a quick graphic:

You might invent your own way of determining “where someone is” on their journey to accepting and contributing to cosmic future visions – but this should be a good starting place.