![]() ![]() I think what this paper adds is a more systematic way to think about these risks, a categorization of the different approaches to managing these risks and their pros and cons, and the metaphor itself makes it easier to call attention to possibilities that are hard to see. ![]() "It looks like we will one day democratize the ability to create weapons of mass destruction using synthetic biology." But philosopher Nick Bostrom worries we might not always be so lucky. Thus far civilization has stayed one step ahead of its problems. Humanity solves one problem, but the unintended side effects of the solution create new ones. This situation illustrates the push and pull effect of new technologies. Feeding the world without deepening the climate crisis will require new technological breakthroughs. It turns out some of the same farming techniques that staved off a Malthusian catastrophe also led to soil erosion and contributed to climate change, which in turn contributes to drought and other challenges for farmers. But a report from the World Resources Institute last year predicts that food producers will need to supply 56 percent more calories by 2050 to meet the demands of a growing population. In his 1798 An Essay on the Principle of Population, Thomas Malthus predicted that the world's population growth would outpace food production, leading to global famine and mass starvation. ![]()
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