The 80000hours website is better

TLDR; First of all, it should've been 3 chapters instead of 14. Second, if you like statistics and probably this book is for you. If not, just read the 80000hours website because it has better resources and you can skip the boring parts.

My reasoning for giving it 4 stars:
The author has great advice and there is no dough about it. But let's take the example of climate change.
If you take a city that is in extreme poverty, how do you transform that city into a modern one without the downsides of a modem society... so without contributing to climate change in the process. All cities, big or small, struggle with this.
If you think about it, even making solar panels (green tech) contributes a little to climate change when making the components, etc.
There are many more topics besides climate change, so you can imagine whatever example you want, even AI misalignment if you like.
But with that example in mind, my point is... I get it! Things are bad and modern society is a "work in progress" mess to say the least. We can do better on all fronts.
So, I would've loved a book that talks about solutions and the 80000hours website has super awesome advice on that for free.

14 people found this helpful

Good summary of long-term risks

Good overview and introduction to long-term risks facing humanity. It balances accurate summaries of the problem with optimistic and hopeful outlooks for the future, as well as things readers can do to improve the likelihood that the future is positive.

4 people found this helpful

Future of hamanity

Such a wonderful thought provoking book, I am recommending it to everyone I know and don’t know - we as humans need to focus more on what actions mean for tomorrow. Toby Ord provides the science, history, and facts to steer us on a path to be better!

2 people found this helpful

A necessary book/audio book

We need to know where we are heading in our 200,000 years journey. This book is the answer to our question regarding what would happen to humanity if we continue negligence in our affairs. Read it and pass it to your loved ones. Better to know and take action to save humanity. It’s a moral obligation to spread wisdom.

2 people found this helpful

Not practical and too idealistic

I was expecting this book to discuss tangible solutions and ideas that can be grasped mentally. Instead, it was a whole lot of hopeless romantic ideas and plans based on "scientific" predictions for millions of years in the future. How can anyone take this book seriously if that is the approach the author chose to take? This type of conversation happens all the time. From middle school to 30 years old. Then you see the world as what it is and stop dreaming. This book actually made me lose hope in humanities ability to prevent extinction (caused by ourselves). With goals so unattainable, why would anyone try?

1 person found this helpful

Inspiring, important, and well written book

Exceptional book about an issue that has an excellent case for being the most important topic of our times. I can't recommend it highly enough.

1 person found this helpful

A Rare Find

This is one of those rare kinds of book that will shift your perspective on how you view the world, and hopefully, shift your behavior as well. A must read for those who believe there is great purpose to be found in our lives.

1 person found this helpful

Been waiting for this my whole life

Very good, realistic and hopeful. It was a great inspiration for me to actually do something about these big and very important problems.

1 person found this helpful

Excellent in every way

I am astounded at the scope of this book. Ord explains concepts and arguments cogently in ways that are easy to understand, and is circumspect in taking us through the process of understanding existential risk, evaluating the myriad ways in which we create risks for ourselves, unpacking the probabilities of risks and what they mean for us, detailing potential solutions, and giving us all actions we can take to reduce existential risk. He does a wonderful job of balancing the need for careful, rational reflection of existential risk with the true importance and urgency that the issue has beyond the numbers. The cherry on top is the final part, where he lays out the future we may be able to have, if only we can find a way to survive today. I’ve read my fair share of far future science fiction, but this part still mesmerized me. The combination and comparison of singular human experiences with the vicissitudes of time, space, and experience was very effective, The fact that such a future has even the slightest glimmer of hope of being a true reality—and not just fanciful science fiction—is what lends that section, and the book as a whole, its magic. I hope it’s not premature or hyperbole to say this, but I think Toby Ord and others like him may have had or will have an impact similar in magnitude and importance to people such as Vasili Arkhipov, Stanislav Petrov, and Norman Borlaug. Thank you Toby Ord for your contribution to humanity and for giving us all hope.

Outstanding book on a critical topic

I'm not gonna lie... If you don't want to be disturbed, maybe even a little depressed, beware of this book. Its subject matter isn't exactly cheerful. And lets be honest, humanity is facing multiple potential existinction level threats, many of which are completely manmade, in the very near future. Other possible extinction threats are not driven by human action, though the risk may be mitigated with targeted and thoughtful action right now, before those threats can become imminent.

Regardless of the source of our possible demise, mankind is in the unique position to understand, to act, or to stick our heads in the proverbial sand and hope the Big Scary just goes away... Which is unlikely.

Toby Ord was at least prescient and cognizant enough of humanity's precarious position on the precipice of complete annihilation to analyze the statistical probability of each way we could feasibly kill ourselves off. I don't want to give it away, but let's just say his estimate of this probability in the next 100 years is astonishing... And dreadful.

So, you should read this book. If you have children or want to, read this book. If you merely care about mankind's future, read this book. Then take what you learn and put some effort towards preventing these contingencies. Please.