Reviews

The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity by Toby Ord

giocdavis's review against another edition

1.0

i had to read this book for the my required environmental and technological ethics class, so i’m prefacing this review by saying that i did not voluntary read this book and i am uninterested in the study of ethics as a whole. i think ord’s exploration of existential risks and humanity-destroying catastrophes is interesting, but i think he neglects that each of these catastrophes will generally have a build-up that will affect marginalized groups more than others and that we can’t ignore the smaller problems to focus on the big ones. it is necessary to study and understand events that could destroy humanity and our planet, but we can’t do that at the expense of the current populations, especially those that are being faced with more pertinent issues like war, poverty, et cetera. this book is not my cup of tea and i hopefully won’t have to read any of his works again.

kassandra_v's review

informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

florally_laurel's review

informative slow-paced

0.5

arthurbr's review against another edition

4.0

I used to be quite skeptical about existential risks and catastrophes that might end human civilizations as we know it, but this book helped me see it in another perspective.

I always knew there was a chance that AI might be misaligned and work against rather than for us, but I did not quite manage to see it as a realistic scenario. I always knew climate change was bad and would have severe effects and lead to the loss of many human lives, but I did not think about how it is a self-reinforcing cycle that will lead to much more destruction than I first thought.

I knew existential risks were present and might lead to the end of the human species, but I always found it significantly more pressing to help those who suffer today (for instance through malaria interventions), than to work on reducing the impact and likelihood of those existential risks. Now, I am not so sure anymore, and I definitely want to have a more balanced approach and work towards both causes rather than put X-risks on the backburner.

kathrinweihs's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective

4.0

edibui's review

informative fast-paced

3.5

durag_activity's review

challenging hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

schumachr's review against another edition

1.0

i had to read this book for the my required environmental and technological ethics class, so i’m prefacing this review by saying that i did not voluntary read this book and i am uninterested in the study of ethics as a whole. i think ord’s exploration of existential risks and humanity-destroying catastrophes is interesting, but i think he neglects that each of these catastrophes will generally have a build-up that will affect marginalized groups more than others and that we can’t ignore the smaller problems to focus on the big ones. it is necessary to study and understand events that could destroy humanity and our planet, but we can’t do that at the expense of the current populations, especially those that are being faced with more pertinent issues like war, poverty, et cetera. this book is not my cup of tea and i hopefully won’t have to read any of his works again.

jedwards97's review

informative fast-paced

2.75

This book served as a comprehensive introduction to many of the dangers facing humanity in the present and future, whilst delving into the repercussions of the past. For me it lacked an in depth analysis, something I was hoping for. Yet it may have fallen short due to my expectation rather than claiming to be something that it’s not. It’s great for anyone lacking knowledge on the subject areas, but for someone that’s already educated on the ideas I’d say it could be missed 

anoliveri's review

hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

4.25