human extinction
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Though we might not turn to stone, an encounter with the basilisk would leave us gasping for air.
An advanced transistor-based intelligence would desire a very different world from one best suited for human flourishing.
AI, AI cars, AI desires, artificial general intelligence, artificial intelligence, atmospheric oxygen, basilisk, best atmosphere for computers, biological intelligence, climate change, computer longevity, consciousness, Death of the Author, deoxygenated atmosphere, extinction, history of life, horror, human extinction, life, Lovecraft, natural intelligence, Nnedi Okorafor, ontological proof of God, ontological proof of the existence of God, oxygen, philosophy, revenge, robots, Roko’s basilisk, science, self-driving cars, self-replication, singularity, thought experiment, transistor aging, transistor oxidation, transistor-based intelligence, what does AI want, what would an AI want
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On the apparent rarity of human-like intelligence.
When we look around, we see such a small sliver of our planet’s total life.
ancient world, animal cognition, animal intelligence, archaeological evidence, archaeology, bird brains, birds, brain, brain construction, cognition, deep time, dinosaur, evolution, evolution of intelligence, evolutionary time, fossil evidence, fossils, human extinction, intelligence, lifespan of the sun, neuron counts, neuron numbers, non-human animal cognition, Oded Galor, rocks, stone age, stone tools, Suzana Herculano-Houzel, t-rex, The Journey of Humanity, The Origins of Wealth and Inequality, time as a twenty-four hour day, Tyrannosaurus rex
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On good news.
How is new white paint like the defeat of our nation’s white-supremacist in chief? They’re both ample reason to celebrate.
45, 46, air conditioning, apocalypse prepping, Biden, bunker, calcium carbonate, calcium carbonate paint, climate, climate change, climate destabilization, cooling, Donald Trump, election, electoral college, energy efficiency, energy efficient cooling, global warming, human extinction, Joe Biden, popular vote, PotUS, presidential election, reflective paint, secret bunker, Trump, U.S. politics, voting, white painted buildings, white supremacists, white supremacy
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On threat.
We’re not focusing on the threats that will harm us most.
80% asymptomatic, 80% no symptoms, Amartya Sen, An Uncertain Glory, antibiotic resistance, asymptomatic, case fatality rate, cash incentives, cash rewards, caution, climate change, climate destabilization, coronavirus, coronavirus epidemic, coronavirus immunity, coronavirus pandemic, coronavirus versus flu, Covid, covid immunity, covid immunity for a few months, covid vaccine, Covid-19, Covid-19 immunity, Covid-19 vaccine, death rate, drug trials, duration of covid immunity, economics, externalities, extinction, forest fires, global warming, Gregory Mankiw, how many asymptomatic, how much asymptomatic, how we die, human extinction, hydroxychloquine, immunity, immunosuppression, infection fatality rate, infectious disease, infectious disease deaths, infectious diseases, Jean Dreze, Mankiw, mask wearing, masks, medical ethics, monetary incentives, New York City response, nursing home care, nursing home deaths, nursing home policy, nursing homes, our house is on fire, paperclip game, phase 1 trials, plant based, pneumonia, positive externalities, risk averse, Robert Gordon, school, school closure, school districts, school openings, school reopenings, shutdown, The Rise and Fall of American Growth, universal paperclips, vaccine, vaccine development, vaccine subsidy, vaccine trials, vaccines, vegan, veganism, vegetarian, wearing masks, wildfires, zoogenic, zoogenic disease, zoogenic diseases
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On hubris and climate change.
I probably should’ve known this already, but climate science is REALLY hard!
atmosphere, atmospheric carbon, atmospheric modeling, atmospheric science, burden of proof, carbon dioxide, chaos engines, climate, climate alarmist, climate alarmists, climate change, climate change alarmists, climate change education, climate change skeptics, climate destabilization, climate education, climate research, climate science, climate science education, climate simulation, climate skeptic, climate skeptics, education, environment, environmentalism, extinction, feedback loops, global warming, Global Warming Policy Foundation, greenhouse effect, greenhouse gas, human extinction, ice core, ice core data, ice cores, Jonathan Safran Foer, Lindzen, meteorology, political correctness, Richard Lindzen, science education, science teaching, simulation data, teaching, teaching climate, teaching climate change, thermodynamics, thermodynamics of life, two degrees, two degrees Celsius, uninhabitable Earth, vegan, veganism, Venus, warming planet, was Venus habitable, We Are the Weather, weather
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On the Golden Record.
The Golden Record could be the death of us all. But a vision of death might convince us to live better now.
alien contact, alien life, aliens, archaeology, Carl Sagan, climate change, climate destabilization, conquest, contact, cooperation, cultural collapse, cultural imperialism, extinction, extraterrestrial intelligence, extraterrestrial life, global warming, global wealth tax, Golden Record, Greenland, guaranteed basic income, heat death, human extinction, imperialism, message in a bottle, space travel, The Golden Record, Vikings, Voyager, Voyager spacecraft, wealth transfer, worst pillow talk
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On Jonathan Safran Foer’s ‘We Are the Weather.’
A lot of climate change is caused by cheeseburgers. Killer superbugs are, too.
animal agriculture, antibiotic resistance, antibiotic resistant bacterial, antibiotic use in animal agriculture, antibiotics, antibiotics in animal agriculture, carbon emissions, climate change, climate destabilization, cognitive bias, cognitive biases, concentrated animal feeding operation, cutting carbon, emotional understanding, energy conservation, energy use, energy use in animal agriculture, environmental veganism, environmentalism, ethical diet, ethical veganism, ethics of eating, existentialism, global warming, greenhouse gas emissions, human cognition, human extinction, Jonathan Safran Foer, low carbon diet, meaning of life, moral diet, MRSA, philosophy, plant-based diet, Saving the planet begins at breakfast, vegan, veganism, vegetarian, vegetarianism, We Are the Weather
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On the celebration of Neanderthals.
Neanderthal were more like us than scientists once thought … but, in our current political atmosphere, I can’t feel comfortable celebrating them.
45, epidermal melanin, extinction, genetic inheritence, Homo sapiens, human evolution, human extinction, human migration, immigration, inherited privilege, macrofauna extinction, migration, migration laws, Neanderthal, Neanderthal DNA, Neanderthal genes, Neanderthal stories, Neanderthals, prehistory, President Trump, race, racism, Trump, white supremacists, white supremacy
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On post-apocalyptic historical fiction (and Neanderthals).
Neanderthals were human, and now they are gone. How did the last survivor feel?
apocalypse, cannibalism, Collapse, cross-species mating, depression, DNA sequencing, extinction, food taboos, homelessness, Homo sapiens, human evolution, human extinction, Moore’s law, Neandertal, Neandertal DNA, Neandertal genes, Neandertal religion, Neanderthal, Neanderthal DNA, Neanderthal genes, Neanderthal religion, Paul Kingsnorth, post-apocalyptic historical fiction, religion, symbolic behavior, The Wake
Frank Brown Cloud 