Ask HN: What are the 3 biggest threats to our civilization?

  • 1. Entropy (time taking its toll) in terms of corruption at every possible level of material, culture, liberty, biology, political.

    2. Inter-generational discounting (you can't make the next generation care about what you cared about) driving a lack of upkeep for essential yet invisible infrastructure.

    3. Threats from space: Coronal mass ejection, cometary impact, meteor impact.

    IMHO neither AI nor Global warming are as much a threat to human civilization. They could really suck, but they're not going to send us back to the bronze age or extinct us. We're pretty damn clever and resilient.

  • Physics used in the service of war/terrorism

    Biology used in the service of war/terrorism

    Rent seeking of the elite

  • 1. Stupid people

    2. Greed

    3. Tolerating corruption

  • 1. racism/xenophobia/sexism 2. societal externality costs for industry (like global warming) 3. social media

  • 1. Climate change

    2. Nuclear war

    I can't think of a credible third.

  • There is only one: the imbalance of wealth distribution.

  • 1. Greed

    2. Climate change

    3. Giving power to stupid people

  • Overpopulation

  • Misinformation for one of them. Previous US elections, and now COVID, have highlighted how misinformation is both extremely potent/viral, and literally deadly.