Enlightenment As Precedent For Shaping Transitions

The Enlightenment thinkers who worked on esoteric questions about human rights, individual liberties, and the rights of the governed may have meaningfully shaped the entire world because the UK became disproportionately influential after the Industrial Revolution, suggesting that working on seemingly esoteric, low-prestige problems (like AI alignment today) before a major transition can have outsized long-run impact.