Verge: The Doomsday Clock is the gimmick we need

29 January 2018
by Rachel Becker

Our Executive Director Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh was quoted in a story on the Doomsday Clock.

Scientifically calculating the risk of human extinction from the cornucopia of possible catastrophes can be a challenge, says Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh, executive director at the University of Cambridge’s Centre for the Study of Existential Risk. “We’re talking about either very rare events, or potentially events that are entirely unprecedented in the history of this Earth, so there’s not a huge amount of data to go on,” he says. It’s especially difficult when those existential threats come from humans because we’re unpredictable. But still, the clock holds value because it’s updated based on “solid scientific and geopolitical analysis,” he says.

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