Thinking about the end of the world
Details
How useful is it to think about the end of the world, and the various ways in which humans can become extinct? How much effort should society put into that task? And what can be learned from the history of previous forecasts and warnings about the end of the world?
In this talk, existential risks researcher Phil Torres will draw from his forthcoming book "Human Extinction: A History of Thinking About the End of the World" to trace the origins and evolution of the idea of human extinction across past centuries.
Whereas it was once widely believed that even if a worldwide catastrophe were to occur, God would make sure that everything’s okay in the end, the past century and a half has witnessed the traumatic realization that human extinction is not only possible, but increasingly probable.
Topics to be covered will include ancient pondering of the apocalypse, the decline of religion in the nineteenth century, the discovery of the Second Law of Thermodynamics in the 1850s, reactions to the atomic bombs of 1945, the nuclear arms race of the Cold War, the “impact hypothesis” of the 1980s to explain the dinosaurs’ disappearance, speculations about ecological collapse, and more recent fears that “dual use” emerging technologies could pose existential hazards by placing unprecedented destructive power in the hands of small groups and even single individuals.
Phil will argue that, only by understanding this history, can we fully appreciate our current existential predicament and, perhaps, anticipate what’s next. However lucky we were to have survived the Cold War, we may need to be far luckier to survive the twenty-first century.
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This event will be hosted on Zoom. To register, visit https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_BYQo4J23QyG8rd_tQdq7SA
The Zoom registration fee (UKP £2.50) helps cover London Futurists running costs, such as software licensing. The webinar can also be viewed, without charge, on the London Futurists YouTube channel, but without the option to participate in the live Q&A.
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Phil Torres is an author and scholar whose work focuses on existential threats to humanity and civilization. He has published widely in both academic journals and the popular media like Slate, Nautilus, Motherboard, TIME, Free Inquiry, The Progressive, and the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Phil formerly wrote for the Future of Life Institute, was a research assistant to Ray Kurzweil and visiting scholar at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, and has given talks at Oxford, Princeton, and Cambridge. His previous book was "Morality, Foresight, and Human Flourishing: An Introduction to Existential Risks", which included a foreword from Lord Martin Rees. He is on Twitter @xriskology.
For more details about Phil and the books he has written, see https://www.xriskology.com/
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The webinar will start broadcasting at 4pm UK time on Sat 17th April. To find this time in other timezones, see https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html?iso=20210417T150000&p1=136
You are advised to log into Zoom up to 10 minutes ahead of the publicised start time of the event, so you won't miss the start of the live broadcast.
As the discussion proceeds, attendees will be welcome to raise questions and vote to prioritise questions raised by others.
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To register for this event, visit https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_BYQo4J23QyG8rd_tQdq7SA