Nick Bostrom (Oxford): The Vulnerable World Hypothesis (and more). Richard Fisher on the perils of short-termism: Civilisation’s greatest threat. Are we on the road to civilisation collapse? Arden Rowell (Illinois): Miracles and Catastrophes. Alexey Turchin on global catastrophic risks connected with extra-terrestrial intelligence; and on approaches to the prevention of global catastrophic risks. What are the biggest threats to humanity? Kelsey Piper on the case for taking AI seriously as a threat to humanity. Abigail Higgins on 10 ways the world is most likely to end, explained by scientists. Has the new dark age begun yet? Peter Fleming on why he writes toward apocalypse. How will we know the world is ending? Maddie Stone on the fossils of the 21st century: “Most of our things will not rot down at all easily”.
Marko Kovic, Adrian Rauchfleisch, and Christian Caspar (ZIPAR): Global Risks and Population Policy (and on the best future for humankind). Don’t worry, the future is going to be fine. Martin Rees gives humanity a 50-50 chance of surviving the 21st century — but he’s still an optimist. The introduction to On the Future: Prospects for Humanity by Martin Rees.
