Description
We live in an era of existential risk, facing multiple threats to the survival of our species. We also face an epidemic of existential anxiety, struggling to find meaning and purpose in a complex and dehumanizing world. In such times, hope can be hard to find.
Yet, we are not alone with these problems. They have troubled people for centuries now and, with eight billion fellow human beings to work with, we can and will rise to their challenge.
In this wide-ranging exploration of humanity’s existential predicament, SJ Beard, philosopher, futurist, and pioneer of Existential Risk Studies, takes stock of why humanity got into this mess, what we have learned about ourselves, and how we can move forward in our quest for meaning, safety, and flourishing.
Ultimately, SJ argues, our future depends on breaking free from a sense of individual powerlessness to discover shared hopes, collective wisdom, and common humanity, then using them to address the many challenges we face.
Table of Contents
Introduction – Beyond Risk and Anxiety
PART 1 – The Ends of the World
Chapter 1 – Scanning the Trees
Chapter 2 – Who Would Destroy the World?
PART 2 – How Did We Get Here?
Chapter 3 – Thinking Machines
Chapter 4 – Unmasking the Powers
Chapter 5 – Utopia is a Dangerous Place
Chapter 6 – A Point of Inflection
PART 3 – Working Together
Chapter 7 – Steering the Centuries
Chapter 8 – Not With A Bang
Chapter 9 – How (Not) to Save the World
PART 4 – Preserving Humanity
Chapter 10 – You Are Here
Chapter 11 – Standing at the Shoreline
Chapter 12 – Young, Curious, and Brave
