On the Future
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| Author | Martin Rees |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science |
| Published | October 16, 2018 (Princeton University Press) |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 272 |
| ISBN | 9780691180441 |
On the Future: Prospects for Humanity is a 2018 nonfiction book by British cosmologist and Astronomer Royal Martin Rees.[1] It is a short, "big concept" book on the future of humanity and on potential dangers, such as nuclear warfare, climate change, biotech, and artificial intelligence, and the possibility of human extinction.[2]
As with his 2003 Our Final Hour, Rees warns that human civilization faces grave existential risks.[3]
Rees considers a scenario 20 years from now, where carbon dioxide levels have continued to rise, and where climate models have improved. There is a possibility the improved models will predict imminent catastrophe, in which case there might emerge political pressure to immediately deploy poorly-understood geo-engineering techniques. In order to mitigate this "nightmare" scenario, Rees advocates that we start exploring these techniques now, so as to better understand their limitations, risks, and side effects.[4]
Other risks include nuclear war, an asteroid strike, rogue biotechnology, or artificial intelligence. Rees advocates that nations empower supra-national institutions to better collaborate against such risks, a difficult task given the populist trends against globalism.[5] Some scholars, such as Stephen Hawking, have advocated space colonization as a way to mitigate existential risk; Rees breaks with Hawking on this matter and criticizes space colonization as "a dangerous delusion to think that space offers an escape from Earth's problems".[6]