logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2020
35m 35s

Toby Ord: What are the odds civilisation...

Our Media
About this episode

This week we talk to the philosopher Toby Ord about the end of civilisation as we know it.

Ok, it’s not all doom and gloom. As Toby says, he’s an optimistic person, but in his new book The Precipice (£25, Bloomsbury) he explains why we’re at a point in time where we, as a species, are teetering on the edge of extinction.

We discuss how much potential us homo sapiens have, what’s putting our continued survival at risk, how civilisation as we know it could come to an end, and what are the odds we’ll see out the century.

Let us know what you think of the episode with a review or a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast:


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Up next
Jul 6
How the maths of sameness and difference can change the way you view the world
Anyone who has studied maths even briefly will no doubt be familiar with the ‘equals’ sign. But there’s much more to this seemingly simple symbol and the concepts that it represents than may first meet the eye. In this episode, we speak to mathematician and author Dr Eugenia Chen ... Show More
31m 51s
Jul 3
Busting the biggest weight loss myths
Currently, 60 per cent of people in the UK are overweight or obese. It’s likely that many of us would like to drop a few pounds if possible but with so much information on diet and weight loss available separating facts from myths can be something of a minefield. In this episode, ... Show More
46m 49s
Jul 1
Better Sleep: The hidden power of napping
Be it a brief power nap to help perk us up, a Sunday afternoon kip after a big lunch, or a traditional daily Spanish siesta, many of us put our heads down for a short period during the day. But where does this habit come from and is it actually good for our health? In this episod ... Show More
24m 13s
Recommended Episodes
Mar 2020
#72 - Toby Ord on the precipice and humanity's potential futures
This week Oxford academic and 80,000 Hours trustee Dr Toby Ord released his new book The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity. It's about how our long-term future could be better than almost anyone believes, but also how humanity's recklessness is putting that f ... Show More
3h 14m
Aug 2021
From the Vault: Astronomical Suffering and the Terran Diaspora
For many futurists, the long term survival of humanity depends on its ability to become a true interplanetary and even interstellar species. But what is the potential moral cost of such a great technological and cultural leap forward? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, R ... Show More
1h 5m
May 2012
What is the future of Earth?
What will the Earth be like in 5,000 or 50,000 years? In this far-sighted episode, Josh and Chuck explore how Earth may change over time. Listen in to learn more about humanity's odds of survival -- and how technology just might save us. Learn more about your ad-choices at https: ... Show More
33m 32s
May 2024
The Infinite Monkey's Guide To… The Future
We know the universe is rapidly expanding but what happens if other galaxies disappear from view? That’s what Eric Idle wants to know as he ponders the future and what it holds in store. Solar scientist Lucie Green says this is not worth dwelling on because we’ll all be wiped out ... Show More
19m 43s
Nov 2018
Natural Risks
Humans have faced existential risks since our species was born. Because we are Earthbound, what happens to Earth happens to us. Josh points out that there’s a lot that can happen to Earth - like gamma ray bursts, supernovae, and runaway greenhouse effect. (Original score by Point ... Show More
37m 14s
Mar 2020
What If Half the Earth’s Population Was Wiped Out? - Guest: Paul Ehrlich
What has most recently became known in some circles as "Thanos Theory", many people have wondered, especially in times of serious concerns about climate change and the scarcity of resources just how long this planet can support us...especially as the world's population is about t ... Show More
46m 5s
Aug 2020
What If We Became a Type II Civilization? - Guest: Michio Kaku
Sign up for Policy Genius today: https://bit.ly/policy-genius-what-if-discussed How cool would it be if we could one day regulate our atmosphere, control the climate and maybe even blast threatening asteroids into stardust? Well, to do those things would require A LOT of energy. ... Show More
47m 11s
Jun 2023
Big Tech Wants You to Think AI Will Kill Us All
Did you know that AI is set to automate as many as a third of your tasks? In the future we’re all going to be saving a lot of time. That’s as long as no one invents artificial general intelligence that fires all the nukes or turns us all into paperclips. Which, some experts seem ... Show More
38m 5s
Aug 2022
#292 — How Much Does the Future Matter?
Sam Harris speaks with William MacAskill about his new book, What We Owe the Future. They discuss the philosophy of effective altruism (EA), longtermism, existential risk, criticism of EA, problems with expected-value reasoning, doing good vs feeling good, why it's hard to care a ... Show More
2 h
Apr 2020
What If We Lived 50 Years Into the Future? - Guest: Steven Kotler
Mark Twain once said...Well, Mark Twain said a lot of things but in this particular context, his "it's difficult to make predictions, particularly about the future" is as apropos as it is yogi Berra-ish. But these days, futurism is not only harder than it's probably ever been, bu ... Show More
54m 54s