Toby Ord on “The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity”

A discussion with philosopher and philanthropist Toby Ord, author of the new book The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity.

Seventy-five years ago, the Trinity Test heralded the onset of the Atomic Age. To Toby Ord, that moment signified something even bigger: the beginning of an era he calls “the precipice,” the first time in 200,000 years of human history that we have had the technical capacity to orchestrate our own extinction. In his book, Ord investigates current and emerging existential risks to humanity and explains how to navigate this dangerous new era to protect the lives of future generations.

Ord is a senior research fellow at Oxford University and one of the co-founders of the Effective Altruism movement, which encourages individuals to use their resources as effectively as possible to improve the lives of others—both now and in the long-term future. In 2009, he launched Giving What We Can, an international community that asks its members to donate a portion of their income to effective charities. Together, its members have contributed more than $100 million and pledged more than $1.5 billion. Ord earned his B.Phil and D.Phil at Oxford University. He is a trustee of the Centre for Effective Altruism and has advised the World Health Organization, the World Economic Forum, and the UK Prime Minister’s Office and Cabinet Office.