Robert FromontNov 13, 2022
A while back, recovering from surgery and desperate for books, and I was tricked by Audible's recommender system into buying Jordan Peterson's book. In my defence, I didn't know who he was then. I think before the end of chapter one, I went from ‘lobsters had complex social hierarchy, interesting!’ to ‘OMG, I’m inadvertently reading trash!' It was the only time I've asked for a refund from Amazon, and I escaped unscathed, and wiser.
Show threadRobert FromontNov 13, 2022

Fast forward to recently, when I spotted #WilliamMacAskill's #WhatWeOweTheFuture, which is all about how we owe it to future generations to not screw up the present. It recognises that humanity can now drive itself to extinction, and tries to figure out some strategies for avoiding that.

It seemed like it might press my armageddon fascination buttons but offer some rays of hope, and maybe suggest concrete actions.

Show threadRobert FromontNov 13, 2022

Initially, it played out like that:

WWOTF: OMG for the first time in history we can annihilate ourselves in multiple ways!
Me: Yep!
WWOTF: We should try to avoid that!
Me: I don't want my descendants living out Mad Max. How can I be a Good Ancestor?
WWOTF: The nuclear threat hasn't gone away!
Me: I know! Philomena Cunk does too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zabCBnUHLA
WWOTF: Climate Change!
Me: Yeah, I have to scroll quickly past COP27 headlines to preserve my mental health…
WWOTF: Pathogens!
Me: Topical.

Philomena Cunk finds out that nuclear weapons still exist

YouTube
Show threadRobert FromontNov 13, 2022
WWOTF: AI apocalypse!
Me: … well. I mean, not ‘the singularity’ like Terminator or Matrix. …but yeah, it's locking in some bad prejudice, and is being used as a tool for evil. So, yeah, kinda.
WWOTF: What doesn't kill us might nevertheless destroy civilisation, it's happened before!
Me: Sure. Kinda like the last half of Threads, right? https://youtu.be/FDmrFjQFQ38
Threads (1984) | Post-Nuclear War Harvest

YouTube
Show threadRobert Fromont
WWOTF: Humanity worse than decimated, people roaming the wasteland.
Me: I read The Road recently too.
WWOTF: Humanity can only survive if there are lots of humans.
Me: … well … we got through hundreds of millenia without…
WWOTF: How will we build up the population again?!
Me: …
WWOTF: Fertility rates are already dropping, something should be done!
Me: In 2022, with the number of humans about to tick over 8 billion, am I seriously reading a book about how to increase the number of humans?
Nov 13, 2022 at 4:04pmWeb
Show threadPeter MNov 14, 2022
@robertfromont more and more I’m convinced that modern human life is all a pyramid scheme. Unfortunately, when you’re in the game it’s hard to be willing to upset the house of cards.
Show threadDavid Chase (dr2chase)Nov 14, 2022

@robertfromont We need a large and genetically diverse population from which adversity can select our highly-melanated-radiation-resistant (*), flipper-footed, disease-resistant descendants.

(*) it works for fungi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiotrophic_fungus#Role_of_melanin

I kinda wonder if those EA guys have been microdosing for too long, and not micro enough.

Radiotrophic fungus - Wikipedia