Macro Challenges & Cooperation

Beautiful futures are possible. Let’s generate the knowledge and cooperation to get there.

Science and Technology are rapidly developing, creating unfathomable opportunities for our future. But these developments also bring significant challenges - some of which may even threaten our existence.

Each of these sections provides information on a specific technological field in the following way:
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1. Intro: An introduction to this technology field. What is it?
2. Risks: Highlighting the potential risks of this technology field. How can it be dangerous?
3. Hope: Shining a light on what the possibilities of this technology is. How can it help us?
4. Action: Listing organizations and initiatives working on creating a better long-term future. What can YOU do to help out?

INTRO

Macro Challenges & Cooperation

Existential Risk: An Introduction

In this video Andrew Critch from CHAI (Center for Human Compatible AI) talks about how

Macro Challenges & Cooperation

Existential Risk Resources

Collection of papers written on the concept of existential risks.

Macro Challenges & Cooperation

This website collects resources on s-risks ("suffering risks".)

Macro Challenges & Cooperation

The Fermi Paradox

Explaining and explores all the possible explanations to the Fermi Paradox.

Macro Challenges & Cooperation

Dissolving the Fermi Paradox

Anders Sandberg, Eric Drexler and Toby Ord

This is a paper by Anders Sandberg, Eric Drexler and Toby Ord on The Fermi paradox.

Macro Challenges & Cooperation

The Vulnerable World Hypothesis

This hypothesis offers a new perspective from which to evaluate the risk‐benefit balance of developments towards the future.

Macro Challenges & Cooperation

The world’s biggest problems & why they’re not what first comes to mind

What are the world’s most neglected problems?

RIsks

Macro Challenges & Cooperation

Existential Risk: Diplomacy & Governance

Sebastian Farquhar, John Halstead Owen Cotton-Barratt, Stefan Schubert, Haydn Belfield, and Andrew Snyder-Beattie

This report offers an overview of existential risks, and presents three opportunities for humanity to reduce these risks.

Macro Challenges & Cooperation

The Doomsday Machine

Daniel Ellsberg

An exposé of the dangers of America's Top Secret, seventy-year-long nuclear policy that continues to this day.

Macro Challenges & Cooperation

Doomsday Argument

Nick Bostrom explains the doomsday argument.

Macro Challenges & Cooperation

The Case for Reducing Extinction Risks

What should be our biggest priority as a civilization?

Macro Challenges & Cooperation

Taleb on estimating opportunities while considering the occurrence of improbable, largely impactful events.

Macro Challenges & Cooperation

Dissolving the Fermi Paradox

Anders Sandberg, Eric Drexler and Toby Ord

This is a paper by Anders Sandberg, Eric Drexler and Toby Ord on The Fermi paradox.

HOPE

Macro Challenges & Cooperation

The Expected Value of Extinction Risk Reduction is Positive

Jan M. Brauner, Friederike M. Grosse-Holz

An answer to the question: “Is the expected value of efforts to reduce the risk of human extinction positive or negative?”.

Macro Challenges & Cooperation

Long-term Trajectories of Human Civilization

Seth Baum and co-authors Stuart Armstrong, Timoteus Ekenstedt, Olle Häggström, Robin Hanson, Karin Kuhlemann, Matthijs M. Maas, James D. Miller, Markus Salmela, Anders Sandberg, Kaj Sotala, Phil Torres, Alexey Turchin, and Roman V. Yampolskiy.

This paper formalizes long-term trajectories of human civilization as a scientific and ethical field of study.

Macro Challenges & Cooperation

Managing Existential Risks from Emerging Technologies

Nick Becksted, Toby Ord

This paper argues for maximizing benefits of new technology while hedging against the potential existential risks.

Macro Challenges & Cooperation

Why S-risks are the worst X-Risks and how to prevent them.

Macro Challenges & Cooperation

The Anthropic Bias

This book investigates how to reason when one suspects that evidence is biased.

ACTIONS

Future of Humanity Institute

A multidisciplinary research institute working on Existential Risk at the University of Oxford.

Future of Life Institute

A research and outreach organization in that works to mitigate existential risks facing humanity, especially AI.

Foresight Institute

A non-profit research organization focused on technologies of fundamental importance to our human future.