Hi, new to the forum! Asking here as it seems to small of a question for its own post:
I finished reading “The precipice” this week, and found the list of current/future existential risks a bit short, especially compared to natural ones. For example, AFAIK space debris might make spaceflight impossible in the near future, making it most likely* impossible to become a multiplanetary species, robbing us of lots of resources, and sooner or later meaning a natural risk will wipe us out on earth (which Ord classifies as an existential risk).
I know space debris has become a hot topic over the last few years, is there any work in an EA context on it? Similarly, have people tried to compile lists with all currently conceivable/knowable existential risks?
* I dont know much about spaceflight, but it sounded impossible to build spacecraft that could withstand the level of debris that would build up once we reach a tipping point and a lot of satellites become debris.
Hi Jan, welcome to the Forum! I don’t think this answers your whole question, but if you haven’t seen it before, you might find this page useful: Existential risk in the EA Forum Wiki.
Hi, new to the forum! Asking here as it seems to small of a question for its own post:
I finished reading “The precipice” this week, and found the list of current/future existential risks a bit short, especially compared to natural ones. For example, AFAIK space debris might make spaceflight impossible in the near future, making it most likely* impossible to become a multiplanetary species, robbing us of lots of resources, and sooner or later meaning a natural risk will wipe us out on earth (which Ord classifies as an existential risk).
I know space debris has become a hot topic over the last few years, is there any work in an EA context on it? Similarly, have people tried to compile lists with all currently conceivable/knowable existential risks?
* I dont know much about spaceflight, but it sounded impossible to build spacecraft that could withstand the level of debris that would build up once we reach a tipping point and a lot of satellites become debris.
Hi Jan, welcome to the Forum! I don’t think this answers your whole question, but if you haven’t seen it before, you might find this page useful: Existential risk in the EA Forum Wiki.
Welcome Jan! There has been work done on space risks by EAs, but I don’t know if the specific risk you mention has been studied. I’d check out the Centre for Space Governance, the Space Futures Initiative (especially their research agenda) and this 80k Hours problem profile.