Natural Risks

An artificial intelligence capable of improving itself runs the risk of growing intelligent beyond any human capacity and outside of our control. Josh explains why a superintelligent AI that we haven’t planned for would be extremely bad for humankind. (Original score by Point Lob ...  Show more

Natural viruses and bacteria can be deadly enough; the 1918 Spanish Flu killed 50 million people in four months. But risky new research, carried out in an unknown number of labs around the world, are creating even more dangerous humanmade pathogens. (Original score by Point Lobo. ...  Show more

Earth is our home, but how much longer can it remain so? In this episode of the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast, Robert and Christian explore the many threats to terrestrial habitability, from the cosmically distant to the frighteningly close at hand.

For many futurists, the long term survival of humanity depends on its ability to become a true interplanetary and even interstellar species. But what is the potential moral cost of such a great technological and cultural leap forward? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, R ...  Show more

How long do humans have left on Earth? As species go, humanity has had a brief, incredibly transformative run here on Earth. We've mined resources, farmed food, hunted animals, built cities and polluted ecosystems across the globe. There's no denying we've also made tremendous ...

Sam Harris speaks with Toby Ord about preserving the long term future of humanity. They discuss moral biases with respect to distance in space and time, the psychology of effective altruism, feeling good vs doing good, possible blindspots in consequentialism, natural vs human-cau ...  Show more