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Things to think about
Most people are against cloning though I’ve never understood why. Is it just another technology that will be accepted once it’s possible? “My prediction: Once a few thousand cloned humans are walking...
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Get complex, get rich, get robust
At least the Japanese can video conference when their bullet trains break In my last post I discussed the short and medium run effects of increased trade and specialization on a society’s robustness....
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Do humans make better predictions than computer models, and other stories
This is one of the most interesting presentations I’ve ever found online. That is has only 17,000 views is a disgrace, so go watch it now! Why Foxes Are Better Forecasters Than Hedgehogs – Phillip...
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Does open trade make us more vulnerable to disasters?
In general as a production process gets more complex and requires many specialised and non-substitutable inputs, it is more vulnerable to disruption. This is proposed as a cause of collapse for many...
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Existential risk links
A Supernova Could Nuke Us Mass Market Survival Shelters Six Easy Steps to Avert the Collapse of Civilization PHYS 20061 – Nuclear Warfare Might law save us from uncaring AI? Tagged: existential risk,...
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Is it bad to discriminate against fertile women in employment?
Carl Zimmerman forwarded me an interesting article challenging the value of maternity leave in breaking through the glass ceiling: Harriet Harman’s push for longer maternity leave is undeniably...
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Reasons to care about existential risk IV
Reaching The Stars Is Easy Compared to Some Things, from Philhellenes. Very nicely put together. HT Alexander Kruel. “Since, in the long run, every planetary society will be endangered by impacts from...
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Reasons to care about existential risk III
Past reasons: Carl Sagan on Earth Why existential risk is the most important thing Reasons to care Tagged: existential risk, videos
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What problems would a baby born in 3000 AD want us to work on now?
Unsurprisingly given our psychology’s origin in evolution, humans spend most of their time thinking about everyday concerns: how to get food, stay clean, find friends, get laid, etc. Most of our...
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Near and far thinking diagram
One way of explaining inconsistencies in human belief and behaviour is to model us as having multiple minds which rarely interact directly. Each set of views and pattern of thinking are brought to the...
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Literature lies!
A while back I noted that we naturally trust fiction more than fact, even though fiction can be contrived to say any nonsense an author might want it to say. Robin Hanson today describes how Lord of...
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Should I get a flu vaccination?
My university is kind enough to offer subsidised flu jabs for $AUS20. But is it socially efficient for me as a healthy adult to get a flu jab? I thought I’d take a look at what Google Scholar said:...
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Geoengineering as speculative existential risk
A new paper from one of the editors of Global Catastrophic Risk: “Another partial solution of Fermi’s famous paradox is proposed, based on our increased understanding of geophysics, geo-engineering and...
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Existential risk watch – Nuclear Winter
This makes a small to medium sized nuclear conflict more dangerous, but also makes such a conflict less likely as even a successful first strike would result in disaster for the aggressor: “Although...
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Is a world without nuclear weapons a safer world?
All the recent talk about nuclear disarmament reminded me of a paper by Tom Schelling. As described by Dan Cole: “In the Fall 2009 issue of Daedalus, Tom Schelling explains cogently why a world without...
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SIA or not? The ‘God’s Coin Toss’ thought experiment
The “Sleeping Beauty Problem” has obviously attracted mixed responses – some people say 1/3 and others say 1/2. I’m having trouble working out which group I agree with. In the meantime, here is another...
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Does virtual filth set an example or provide a substitute?
It is common to worry that depictions of bad things have a negative impact on human behaviour. Violent movies and video games are turning young children into killers! Smutty advertising is normalising...
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To SIA or not to SIA? Link round-up.
Topic of the weeks seems to be: should we use the Self Indication Assumption, or not? Please keep the links coming in and I will post them here for everyone’s convenience. Yes: SIA Doomsday –...
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Why existential risk is the most important thing part I
Anna Salamon, Research Fellow with the Singularity Institute, does a back-of-the-envelope calculation on how much impact a single person could have by contributing to a good Singularity (or reducing...
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