350 - Existential Risk

omega tau - English only

• Episode: 350 - Existential Risk
• Website: omega tau - English only
• Feed URL: http://omegataupodcast.net/englishOnly.php
• Duration: 02:40:06
• Published: 2020-08-22 09:32

Humanity has always been exposed to potentially catastrophic risks that might endanger the continued existence of humanity. Asteroid impacts or supervolcano eruptions come to mind. But since about the invention of the atomic bomb, humanity has been able to wipe itself out, adding self-made existential risks to the natural ones. Oxford philosopher Toby Ord argues in his book The Precipice that those risks are much more likely than the natural ones. In this episode we explore this idea with him, and also discuss what we should do about this realization.