When I read ‘On the Future’ I wasn’t that much of a fan. My memory is pretty hazy of it because I read it a few years ago, but my feeling about it was that it wasn’t very content dense and some of it didn’t seem quite correct to me. I was reading expecting to want to recommend it to others, but actually decidedly preferred the Precipice (and they cover fairly similar things, so I’m unlikely to recommend both). Not sure if others feel that way, but if they do it might contribute to (at least this book) being relatively less mentioned in introductory materials.
I agree that if I could only recommend one book, it would probably be the Precipice - as its more up-to-date and comprehensive. I was thinking a wider bibliography / reading list. However, I really would prioritise the two Ted talks as short, interesting, credible intros.
I’ve got a real soft spot for “Our Final Century: Will Civilisation Survive the Twenty-first Century?” as it was the book that originally got me interested in existential risk. I still think its really important for the field, and is usefully included alongside 2008′s GCR and Bostrom’s 2002 paper. We’re actually working on an “updated after 20 years” version of the book, hopefully out next year.
When I read ‘On the Future’ I wasn’t that much of a fan. My memory is pretty hazy of it because I read it a few years ago, but my feeling about it was that it wasn’t very content dense and some of it didn’t seem quite correct to me. I was reading expecting to want to recommend it to others, but actually decidedly preferred the Precipice (and they cover fairly similar things, so I’m unlikely to recommend both). Not sure if others feel that way, but if they do it might contribute to (at least this book) being relatively less mentioned in introductory materials.
Tbc, I’m still a big fan of Lord Martin Rees’ work!
I agree that if I could only recommend one book, it would probably be the Precipice - as its more up-to-date and comprehensive. I was thinking a wider bibliography / reading list. However, I really would prioritise the two Ted talks as short, interesting, credible intros.
I’ve got a real soft spot for “Our Final Century: Will Civilisation Survive the Twenty-first Century?” as it was the book that originally got me interested in existential risk. I still think its really important for the field, and is usefully included alongside 2008′s GCR and Bostrom’s 2002 paper. We’re actually working on an “updated after 20 years” version of the book, hopefully out next year.