The Valmy #16 – SJ Beard on Parfit, Climate Change, and Existential Risk
Episode: #16 – SJ Beard on Parfit, Climate Change, and Existential Risk
Release date: 2020-09-30
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Dr S. J. Beard is a research associate at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk at the University of Cambridge, and an AHRC/BBC New Generation Thinker. With a background in philosophy, he works on ethical problems relating to the long-term future of humanity, as well as evaluating extreme technological risks.
In this episode we discuss:
- [2:00] Existential risks defined in brief;
- [4:45] SJ's background;
- [12:30] What made philosopher Derek Parfit so influential;
- [17:30] What is the repugnant conclusion?
- [22:12] What is the non-identity problem?
- [28:40] Meeting Parfit;
- [34:20] Why SJ chose a career in existial risk research;
- [36:43] What existential risk research looks like;
- [45:58] How can we estimate the probability of catastrophes with no strict precedents?
- [56:52] Under what circumstances could climate change cause a collapse of global civilization?
- [1:07:52] Why SJ ran as an MP for the Liberal Democrats;
- [1:17:25] Is academia broken? How can we fix it?
- [1:23:23] Why SJ changed his mind about whether COVID is a potential global catastrophe
You can read much more on this episode's accompanying write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/Simon.
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