#16 – SJ Beard on Parfit, Climate Change, and Existential Risk

Dr S. J. Beard is a research associate at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk at the University of Cambridge, and an AHRC/BBC New Generation Thinker. With a background in philosophy, he works on ethical problems relating to the long-term future of humanity, as well as evaluating extreme technological risks.
In this episode we discuss:

[2:00] Existential risks defined in brief;
[4:45] SJ's background;
[12:30] What made philosopher Derek Parfit so influential;
[17:30] What is the repugnant conclusion?
[22:12] What is the non-identity problem?
[28:40] Meeting Parfit;
[34:20] Why SJ chose a career in existial risk research;
[36:43] What existential risk research looks like;
[45:58] How can we estimate the probability of catastrophes with no strict precedents?
[56:52] Under what circumstances could climate change cause a collapse of global civilization?
[1:07:52] Why SJ ran as an MP for the Liberal Democrats;
[1:17:25] Is academia broken? How can we fix it?
[1:23:23] Why SJ changed his mind about whether COVID is a potential global catastrophe

You can read much more on this episode's accompanying write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/Simon.
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