Existential risks: fundamentals, overview and intervention points

Abstract

The World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC) Distinguished Lecture Series - season 2 episode 7. These talks aim to spotlight exceptional speakers with unique perspectives on the world. This episode was organised in cooperation with the Effective Altruism Debate Championship, and in it we host Nick Beckstead. Nick is a Program Officer for the Open Philanthropy Project, which he joined in 2014. He oversees a substantial part of Open Philanthropy’s research and grantmaking related to global catastrophic risk reduction. Previously, he led the creation of Open Phil’s grantmaking program in scientific research. Prior to that, he was a research fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University. He did a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Rutgers University, where he wrote a dissertation on the importance of shaping the distant future. Nick’s talk is titled: “Existential Risks: Fundamentals, Overview and Intervention Points”. The talk consists of 3 elements: 1. A brief introduction of the speaker by Dan Lahav (the Chief Adjudicator of Korea WUDC). 2. The speakers presentation of their topic and their research, work, and experience in the field. 3. A short Q&A session.