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The precipice : existential risk and the future of humanity / Toby Ord.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Hachette Books, [2020]Copyright date: ©2020Description: x, 468 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
  • still image
  • cartographic image
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780316484916
  • 0316484911
Subject(s):
Contents:
Part one: the stakes. Introduction -- Standing at the precipice. How we got here -- Where we might go -- The precipice -- Existential risk. Understanding existential risk -- Looking to the present -- Looking to our future -- Looking to our past -- Civilization virtues -- Cosmic significance -- Uncertainty -- Our neglect of existential risks -- Part two: the risks. Natural risks. Asteroids & comets -- Supervolcanic eruptions -- Stellar explosions -- Other natural risks -- The total natural risk -- Anthropogenic risks. Nuclear weapons -- Climate change -- Environmental damage -- Future risks. Pandemics -- Unaligned artificial intelligence -- Dystopian scenarios -- Other risks -- Part three: the path forward. The risk landscape. Quantifying the risks -- Combining and comparing risks -- Risk factors -- Which risks? -- Safeguarding humanity. Grand strategy for humanity -- Risks without precedent -- International coordination -- Technological progress -- Research on existential risk -- What you can do -- Our potential. Duration -- Scale -- Quality -- Choices.
Summary: "Drawing on over a decade of research, ... [the author] explores the cutting-edge science behind the risks we face. It puts them in the context of the greater story of humanity: showing how ending these risks is among the most pressing moral issues of our time. And it points the way forward, to the actions and strategies that can safeguard humanity"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 303.4909 O65 Available 33111009631843
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This urgent and eye-opening book makes the case that protecting humanity's future is the central challenge of our time.



If all goes well, human history is just beginning. Our species could survive for billions of years - enough time to end disease, poverty, and injustice, and to flourish in ways unimaginable today. But this vast future is at risk. With the advent of nuclear weapons, humanity entered a new age, where we face existential catastrophes - those from which we could never come back. Since then, these dangers have only multiplied, from climate change to engineered pathogens and artificial intelligence. If we do not act fast to reach a place of safety, it will soon be too late.



Drawing on over a decade of research, The Precipice explores the cutting-edge science behind the risks we face. It puts them in the context of the greater story of humanity: showing how ending these risks is among the most pressing moral issues of our time. And it points the way forward, to the actions and strategies that can safeguard humanity.



An Oxford philosopher committed to putting ideas into action, Toby Ord has advised the US National Intelligence Council, the UK Prime Minister's Office, and the World Bank on the biggest questions facing humanity. In The Precipice , he offers a startling reassessment of human history, the future we are failing to protect, and the steps we must take to ensure that our generation is not the last.



"A book that seems made for the present moment." -- N ew Yorker

"Drawing on over a decade of research, ... [the author] explores the cutting-edge science behind the risks we face. It puts them in the context of the greater story of humanity: showing how ending these risks is among the most pressing moral issues of our time. And it points the way forward, to the actions and strategies that can safeguard humanity"-- Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 423-460) and index.

Part one: the stakes. Introduction -- Standing at the precipice. How we got here -- Where we might go -- The precipice -- Existential risk. Understanding existential risk -- Looking to the present -- Looking to our future -- Looking to our past -- Civilization virtues -- Cosmic significance -- Uncertainty -- Our neglect of existential risks -- Part two: the risks. Natural risks. Asteroids & comets -- Supervolcanic eruptions -- Stellar explosions -- Other natural risks -- The total natural risk -- Anthropogenic risks. Nuclear weapons -- Climate change -- Environmental damage -- Future risks. Pandemics -- Unaligned artificial intelligence -- Dystopian scenarios -- Other risks -- Part three: the path forward. The risk landscape. Quantifying the risks -- Combining and comparing risks -- Risk factors -- Which risks? -- Safeguarding humanity. Grand strategy for humanity -- Risks without precedent -- International coordination -- Technological progress -- Research on existential risk -- What you can do -- Our potential. Duration -- Scale -- Quality -- Choices.

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