Mar 31, 2020 • 7M

🎧 Is Covid-19 an existential threat?

 
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Azeem Azhar

Covid-19 feels overwhelming. With its deep impact on our economies, institutions, and personal lives, we might feel it is an existential threat to our lives, perhaps to humanity. 

But is it? 

I discuss the pandemic in this light with the moral philosopher Toby Ord, whose research focuses on existential risks. His new book,  The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity explores the risks to a flourishing future for our species.

I’m sharing a excerpt from our conversation; full discussion is available to members of EV.

In the discussion, Toby and I cover:

  • The kinds of risks we’re facing, and how we should be thinking about the current pandemic,

  • Why humans are the humanity’s worst threat,

  • The role of networks in scaling existential threats.

(Apologies for audio quality, all of this recorded remotely.)

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