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remmerich1's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
5.0
To have written a book oh this scale, drawing from such varied fields, binding them together, and presenting so clear and concise a summary of existential risk is a phenomenal achievement.
I tried to follow the foot notes at first, and planned to read the appendices but they get densely scientific and mathematical, and I found I was more frustrated with my reading pace than I was getting from them. Accepting that and just reading the text as presented (as Ord encourages the casual reader to do) helped me stick with the flow and narrative of Ord's arguments far more easily.
The book runs through various forms of risk, why we should think about them now, how we might mitigate them, and an overview of where humanity might go in the future. Its endlessly fascinating, and Ord does a good job of distilling wildly dense scientific ideas and mathematical concepts into plain language- with greater depth available for those who are interested, you can always check his working.
The book filled me with hope, fundamentally. Not that we WILL survive, but that there's no real reason why we CAN'T. If we pull ourselves together, the upper limit on our existence doesn't really exist. Tens, or hundreds, of billions of years, with a humanity stretching across the stars, experiences, perceptions, forms, stories, art, games, lives of unimaginable quality, and numbered in the trillions. So often we worry about asteroids or climate collapse or nuclear war. To have a sober, serious discussion of how we might avoid that, and what might folow, is a great joy, and I'll be thinking on and talking about this read for a very long time to come
I tried to follow the foot notes at first, and planned to read the appendices but they get densely scientific and mathematical, and I found I was more frustrated with my reading pace than I was getting from them. Accepting that and just reading the text as presented (as Ord encourages the casual reader to do) helped me stick with the flow and narrative of Ord's arguments far more easily.
The book runs through various forms of risk, why we should think about them now, how we might mitigate them, and an overview of where humanity might go in the future. Its endlessly fascinating, and Ord does a good job of distilling wildly dense scientific ideas and mathematical concepts into plain language- with greater depth available for those who are interested, you can always check his working.
The book filled me with hope, fundamentally. Not that we WILL survive, but that there's no real reason why we CAN'T. If we pull ourselves together, the upper limit on our existence doesn't really exist. Tens, or hundreds, of billions of years, with a humanity stretching across the stars, experiences, perceptions, forms, stories, art, games, lives of unimaginable quality, and numbered in the trillions. So often we worry about asteroids or climate collapse or nuclear war. To have a sober, serious discussion of how we might avoid that, and what might folow, is a great joy, and I'll be thinking on and talking about this read for a very long time to come
uzunfarukefendi's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.25
yates9's review against another edition
5.0
To look at weighting the interests of those that are living now with the interests of every human that will ever exist...
This is an important book because there are so few on this subject and even fewer mostly accessible to a lay audience. Toby does a good job at presenting the field and its key factors and questions. Less convincing in his final chapters because of oversimplification of some of the points and core examples.
The agricultural revolution as an example of a moment of huge transformation is also a controversial moment.. first moment of technical lock-in? Or liberation from the hard work of hunting and gathering? Both? Would have been nice for the author to consider some of the complexity of the issue.
This is an important book because there are so few on this subject and even fewer mostly accessible to a lay audience. Toby does a good job at presenting the field and its key factors and questions. Less convincing in his final chapters because of oversimplification of some of the points and core examples.
The agricultural revolution as an example of a moment of huge transformation is also a controversial moment.. first moment of technical lock-in? Or liberation from the hard work of hunting and gathering? Both? Would have been nice for the author to consider some of the complexity of the issue.
ghq's review
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
I was hoping this would be a deep dive into ideas about how to solve existential problems. Its much more a summary of the problems that exist and a "call to action." People attracted to this type of book already know the basics, and don't need another summary.
kwheeles's review against another edition
2.0
Interesting read on all sorts of existential risks to humanity. Feels to me like it could have been edited down to a couple dozen powerpoint slides. Has some method for estimating probabilities for each type of risk (methods mostly establish boundaries), but comes down largely to guesswork.
wharj's review against another edition
4.0
Strongly recommend for... anyone really!
Good introduction to the topic of existential risk. Some diminishing returns for those familiar with the idea of existential risks but even in those cases, still worth reading!
Good introduction to the topic of existential risk. Some diminishing returns for those familiar with the idea of existential risks but even in those cases, still worth reading!