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The precipice : existential risk and the future of humanity / Toby Ord.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Ord, Toby, 1979- author.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Civilization, Modern--21st century--Forecasting.
- Civilization, Modern.
- Social prediction.
- Social ecology.
- Human ecology.
- World politics--21st century--Forecasting.
- World politics.
- Forecasting.
- Physical Description:
- 468 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm
- Place of Publication:
- London : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020.
- Summary:
- Humanity stands at a precipice. We live at a time of unprecedented innovation. Technology is accelerating faster than at any point in history, granting us ever greater power, and creating ever greater risk. In the twentieth century, we developed the means to destroy ourselves o without developing the moral framework to ensure that we won't. The Precipice introduces us to the risks to humanity's future, from the familiar man-made threats of climate change and nuclear war, to the greater risks on the horizon from engineered pandemics and advanced artificial intelligence. With clear and rigorous thinking, Toby Ord calculates the various risk levels, and shows how our own time fits within the larger story of human history. Can we protect the legacy of the hundred billion who have come before us, and secure a future for the trillions of generations that could follow? What can we do, in our present moment, to face the risks head on? Guided by a positive vision of the long-term future, The Precipice is a call for a new ethical perspective- a major reorientation in the way we see the world, our history, and the role we play in it.
- Contents:
- Machine generated contents note: pt. ONE THE STAKES
- Introduction
- 1. Standing at the Precipice
- How We Got Here
- Where We Might Go
- The Precipice
- 2. Existential Risk
- Understanding Existential Risk
- Looking to the Present
- Looking to Our Future
- Looking to Our Past
- Civilisational Virtues
- Cosmic Significance
- Uncertainty
- Our Neglect of Existential Risks
- pt. TWO THE RISKS
- 3. Natural Risks
- Asteroids & Comets
- Supervolcanic Eruptions
- Stellar Explosions
- Other Natural Risks
- The Total Natural Risk
- 4. Anthropogenic Risks
- Nuclear Weapons
- Climate Change
- Environmental Damage
- 5. Future Risks
- Pandemics
- Unaligned Artificial Intelligence
- Dystopian Scenarios
- Other Risks
- pt. THREE THE PATH FORWARD
- 6. The Risk Landscape
- Quantifying the Risks
- Combining and Comparing Risks
- Risk Factors
- Which Risks?
- 7. Safeguarding Humanity
- Grand Strategy for Humanity
- Risks Without Precedent
- International Coordination
- Technological Progress
- Research on Existential Risk
- What You Can Do
- 8. Our Potential
- Duration
- Scale
- Quality
- Choices.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- ISBN:
- 9781526600226
- 1526600226
- 9781526600219
- 1526600218
- OCLC:
- 1143365836
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