From confronting threats to envisioning a brighter future.
Humanity faces significant risks that could threaten our existence, but there are also reasons for hope. By understanding these existential risks, we can work towards preventing catastrophic outcomes and instead focus on creating a future full of potential and optimism.
Explore the critical threats under "Existential Risks" and discover the hopeful future scenarios we could get to if we manage to navigate past the threats under "Existential Hope."
- Existential Risk: An Introduction - Andrew Critch. Short explainer on Existential Risk. Video
- Existential Risk and Existential Hope - Owen Cotton-Barratt, Toby Ord. Introduces the term Existential Hope. “Just as we tend to talk about the existential risk rather than existential catastrophe, we want to be able to refer to the chance of an existential eucatastrophe; upside risk on a large scale. We could call such a chance an existential hope… The word ‘eucatastrophe’ is made of the Greek root ‘eu-’ meaning ‘good’ and the word ‘catastrophe’ in its classical sense of a sudden turn. It was coined by Tolkien to refer to the sudden and unexpected turn for the better, frequently found at the end of fairy tales.” Academic paper
- Hope is not Optimism - Examines hope as a proactive response to difficult realities, highlighting the "double-bind of hope" in fields like oncology, where truth and optimism must be balanced. Argues that hope is not just optimism but a way to engage with the future. Co-authored by experts in psychology and oncology.