https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/how-humanity-discovered-its-possible-extinction-timeline/
This article is adapted from Thomas Moynihan’s forthcoming book, “X-Risk: How Humanity Discovered Its Own Extinction.” How Humanity Came To Contemplate Its Possible Extinction: A Timeline -------------------------------------------------------------------- It is only in the last couple of centuries that we have begun to grasp that our existence might one day cease to exist forever. By: Thomas Moynihan With Covid-19 afflicting the world, and a climate crisis looming, humanity’s future seems uncertain. While the novel coronavirus does ( https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/mar/06/worst-case-thinking-prevent-pandemics-coronavirus-existential-risk ) not ( https://www.cser.ac.uk/news/covid-19-update/ ) itself pose a threat to the continuation of the species, it has undoubtedly stirred anxiety in many of us and has even sparked ( https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/apr/26/what-if-covid-19-isnt-our-biggest-threat ) discussion ( https://www.ft.com/content/0ce83954-6851-11ea-a6ac-9122541af204 ) about human extinction. Less and less ( https://www.ft.com/content/b8ffe0e0-5da6-4735-b83a-dccaa7350f33 ) does the end of the species seem an area of lurid fantasy or remote speculation. Indeed, the opening decades of the 21 st century have seen investigation into so-called ( https://www.nickbostrom.com/existential/risks.html ) ‘existential risks’ establish itself as a growing field of rigorous scientific inquiry. Whether designer pathogen or malicious AI, we now recognize many ways to die. But when did people first start actually thinking about human extinction? [...] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#1893): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/1893 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/77056506/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
