The World Economic Forum (WEF) has just published the 17th edition of the Global Risks Report and three of the most menacing threats identified are all environmental – which shows that the respondents have little faith in the world’s ability to contain climate change.
Read MoreThere’s always something lurking around the corner
There’s always something ominous lurking around the corner and the corporate media (or some politician) will always be eager to point it out for us. After all, they need to get your attention, and we all know that bad news sells better than good news.
While I do think it’s occasionally beneficial to think about all the bad stuff that could happen to us, I don’t think it’s healthy to constantly worry about disastrous things. I hope the media would also adopt this philosophy.
Read MoreThinking about existential risks is the extreme version of negative visualization
Today I listened to the latest episode (#208) of the Making Sense Podcast, where Sam Harris speaks with Oxford University philosopher Toby Ord about existential risks and preserving the long term future of humanity. All I can say is: phew, that episode was a tough two hour exercise in negative visualization. But a useful one, which I will recommend to anyone.
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