Biorisk: a talk on man made pandemics (& Pub Social)

Future pandemics are bound to happen, and many could be far worse than COVID. However, there are some people (especially in Effective Altruism) who suggest that a man-made pandemic would be far worse, and even carries a substantial risk of causing human extinction in the next century.

On the other hand, David Thorstad has recently strongly challenged this view in his blog series ‘Exaggerating the Risks’. He suggests that it is completely contrary to the scientific consensus, does not properly acknowledge the extreme difficulty of engineering an extinction-causing pathogen, and is backed up with minimal arguments. Is he right? This talk digs into this debate in detail.

**Please note our Meetup account will soon be ending. Please follow us on Facebook (or Instagram) for updates.**

Afterwards (around 6:30/ 7:00) we will head down to the Arborist bar for anyone who is interested to talk more and catch up!

This session will be held in room KK204 at Kelburn Campus. The room is on floor 2 of Kirk Building. Please be aware the doors to the university stop automatically opening past 6 pm, and to leave the university level 3 is easiest without a pass after this time. While we run events at the university our group is comprised of both students and professionals.

Anyone is welcome to join!

Effective altruism is a movement focused on finding the most effective ways to have a positive impact. EA Wellington is a group of about 20 people who meet up weekly to talk about different topics in effective altruism and ways we can get involved.