I get where Toby Ord is coming from when he says humanity is standing at “the precipice.” It’s a powerful way to frame the moment we’re in facing climate change (Global warming), nuclear threats, AI risks, and everything in between. But I can’t help but feel that every generation has probably felt this way to some degree with threats somehow relative to the abilities of humanity then.
Think about it if you were living through the Black Death, you might have thought the world was ending. During the Cold War, with nuclear missiles pointed in all directions, people genuinely believed civilization could be wiped out at any moment. And yet, here we are. Genuinely found ways to navigate through and mitigate the risks then and here we are.
That’s not to say we should ignore the risks. Technology is evolving fast, and the stakes are higher in some ways. But we also have more knowledge, better tools, and a greater ability to cooperate than ever before. Maybe the real challenge isn’t just avoiding catastrophe but figuring out how to keep moving forward in a way that protects our future.
I get where Toby Ord is coming from when he says humanity is standing at “the precipice.” It’s a powerful way to frame the moment we’re in facing climate change (Global warming), nuclear threats, AI risks, and everything in between. But I can’t help but feel that every generation has probably felt this way to some degree with threats somehow relative to the abilities of humanity then.
Think about it if you were living through the Black Death, you might have thought the world was ending. During the Cold War, with nuclear missiles pointed in all directions, people genuinely believed civilization could be wiped out at any moment. And yet, here we are. Genuinely found ways to navigate through and mitigate the risks then and here we are.
That’s not to say we should ignore the risks. Technology is evolving fast, and the stakes are higher in some ways. But we also have more knowledge, better tools, and a greater ability to cooperate than ever before. Maybe the real challenge isn’t just avoiding catastrophe but figuring out how to keep moving forward in a way that protects our future.