Exploring the Role of Science and Potential Frictions in Economic Growth

This is a selection of highlights from episode #188 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast.

These aren't necessarily the most important, or even most entertaining parts of the interview — and if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode:

Matt Clancy on whether science is good

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Chapters:

• Luisa’s intro (00:00:00)
• How could scientific progress be net negative? (00:00:15)
• Non-philosophical reasons to discount the far-future (00:03:42)
• How technology generates huge benefits in our day-to-day lives (00:07:54)
• Can science reduce extinction risk? (00:14:17)
• Are we already too late to delay the time of perils? (00:18:48)
• The omnipresent frictions that might prevent explosive economic growth (00:21:59)

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong