Humanity itself?
No matter how diverse these hazards may be, they all share the fact that people have a significant impact on how serious they are. Who cares if the greatest threat to human extinction is ourselves?
That is one of Sabin Roman’s research interests. He simulates society growth and collapse at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, focusing at earlier civilizations like the Roman Empire and Easter Island. According to Roman, most existential dangers are “self-created,” having their roots in civilizations and the institutions they establish. According to him, humanity’s need for unrelenting progress results in exploitation, the ruin of the world, and war. Ironically, that just makes us more vulnerable to some of the largest challenges we currently face. “Too much is dependent on constant economic expansion. It would be beneficial if we tried to optimize anything else “added he.
He compares our civilisation to a row of dominoes, where the risk is more susceptibility to the threat than the push that triggers the cascade. The domino line is extremely susceptible to disruption, according to Roman. “There is very little realistic effect we can have on outside circumstances even if we really want to alter something. More than anything else, our society’s internal dynamics are changeable.”
Kemp concurs with this reasoning: “When people inquire about the greatest existential threat to humanity, I respond, I often aim to throw a curveball in response: [bad] global collaboration.” Despite how absurd it may sound, examining mankind’s probable extinction is a useful endeavor since it may shed light on how humanity is contributing to the threat and how it might be reduced. Nelson thinks that because of how significant this issue is, we should intensify our study of existential dangers. There should be more individuals working on this and more institutions with greater funding.
Is the future that humanity faces depicted in the post-apocalyptic movie? Regarding our future on Earth, neither precise forecasts nor straightforward solutions exist. Roman is certain, however, that we are now more prepared to defend themselves than ever before after looking back on past cultures that have crumbled. Roman stated, “The thing that makes us distinct is we can truly learn from all those prior lessons.” “There is a tremendous chance to learn.”
