Author(s): Zan Boag (ed.)

Philosophy

Looking to the future, one can’t help but wonder: Do we have another 50,000 years as a species? Or are we set to be the architects of our own demise?

Based on our current trajectory, the latter seems more likely: existential threats abound, from malevolent artificial intelligence to runaway climate change. Or perhaps it will end not with a bang, but a whimper, as we lose ourselves in virtual worlds.

Whether the end is nigh, only time will tell, but there’s one thing we know for sure: we are indebted to the 100 billion humans who came before us, and we have a responsibility to those yet to be born. Let us not be the weak link.