Securing posterity - Works in Progress

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New technologies can be dangerous, threatening the very survival of humanity. Is economic growth inherently risky, and how do we maximize the chances of a flourishing future? Ever since the development of the atomic bomb, humanity has possessed the means for its own destruction. There have, of course, always been natural risks of human extinction: an asteroid impact or a supervolcano eruption could make the planet uninhabitable. But since that fateful first nuclear test in the New Mexico desert, the primary threat to the survival of human civilization has come from man himself. In the decades since, the risks from human activity have multiplied. While the median climate change scenario would merely be unpleasant, there is the possibility of tail-end scenarios that could end civilization as we know it. Advances in biotechnology might allow us to engineer a new pathogen that silently spreads before killing not just millions, but all of humanity. Some, like Elon Musk, fear that we might s

Ever since the development of the atomic bomb, humanity has possessed the means for its own destruction. There have, of course, always been natural risks of human extinction: an asteroid impact or a supervolcano eruption could make the planet uninhabitable. But since that fateful first nuclear test in the New Mexico desert, the primary threat to the survival of human civilization has come from man himself. In the decades since, the risks from human activity have multiplied. While the median climate change scenario would merely be unpleasant, there is the possibility of tail-end scenarios that

Securing posterity - Works in Progress

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