Our Final Century?
at 1:25pm
on Tuesday, 20th May 2003
Following his excellent contribution to the Demos seminar for Black Sky Thinking Sir Martin Rees has been doing a lot of interviews publicising his book Our Final Century. This one on Edge.org is one of the more in depth that I've seen. His position can be summed up in the quote, "I am concerned about the threats and opportunities posed by 21st century science, and how to react to them. There are some intractable risks stemming from science, which we have to accept as the downside for our intellectual exhilaration and'even more'for its immense and ever more pervasive societal benefits. I believe there is an expectation of a 50% chance of a really severe setback to civilization by the end of the century. Some people have said that's unduly pessimistic. But I don't think it is: even if you just consider the nuclear threat, I think that's a reasonable expectation."
Fascinating (and sobering) stuff.
Following his excellent contribution to the Demos seminar for Black Sky Thinking Sir Martin Rees has been doing a lot of interviews publicising his book Our Final Century. This one on Edge.org is one of the more in depth that I've seen. His position can be summed up in the quote, "I am concerned about the threats and opportunities posed by 21st century science, and how to react to them. There are some intractable risks stemming from science, which we have to accept as the downside for our intellectual exhilaration and'even more'for its immense and ever more pervasive societal benefits. I believe there is an expectation of a 50% chance of a really severe setback to civilization by the end of the century. Some people have said that's unduly pessimistic. But I don't think it is: even if you just consider the nuclear threat, I think that's a reasonable expectation."
Fascinating (and sobering) stuff.
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