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yates9's review against another edition
5.0
A very good collection of pieces about global catastrophic risks from different authors and perspectives. Not all the writing is either consistent nor the same high quality but the text really does cover in breadth most of the issues in this area.
bclark8781's review against another edition
2.0
I'm not sure what I was expecting here, but this reads like a white paper developed by some "think tank." Lots and lots of jargon, formulas and logarithms. Sure doesn't seem for the general public.
synoptic_view's review against another edition
I was hoping for more discussion of correlated risks and the trade-offs faced by public policy when dealing with multi-dimensional, existential risks. The editors lay out exactly why this attention to multi-dimensionality is important:
But, after this quote, the point is largely put aside. Much of the text is taken up with examples of different risks, many of them non-catastrophic in the existential sense. The chapter by Posner came closest to the discussion I wanted, so I am reading his book on catastrophes next.
[T]here are also pragmatic reasons for addressing global catastrophic risks as a single field. Attention is scarce. Mitigation is costly. To decide how to allocate effort and resources, we must make comparative judgements. If we treat risks singly, and never as part of an overall threat profile, we may become unduly fixated on the one or two dangers that happen to have captured the public or expert imagination of the day, while neglecting other risks that are more severe or more amenable to mitigation. (pg. 2)
But, after this quote, the point is largely put aside. Much of the text is taken up with examples of different risks, many of them non-catastrophic in the existential sense. The chapter by Posner came closest to the discussion I wanted, so I am reading his book on catastrophes next.
brenticus's review against another edition
Interesting read, but long and slow and the chapters are very uneven in terms of style, depth, and interest. Was thinking about grabbing it from the library again when I have a bit more time, but now I think I won't bother. I sort of get that humanity could end at any moment, don't need any extra existential dread piled on.
hammo's review against another edition
4.0
Finally finished!
Very mixed: some of the chapters are super interesting (cosmology, totalitarianism), others are so dry as to be practically unreadable (insurance). Most are fairly boring with a few interesting bits here and there.
Very mixed: some of the chapters are super interesting (cosmology, totalitarianism), others are so dry as to be practically unreadable (insurance). Most are fairly boring with a few interesting bits here and there.
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