Benjamin Todd

Perhaps the problems that affect the future are big and neglected but not solvable?

One way to help future generations?

Avert neglected existential risks.

In the summer of 2013, Barack Obama referred to climate change as the global threat of our time.

He's not alone in this opinion.

When many people think of the biggest problems facing future generations, climate change is often the first to come to mind.

One reason for that is that many fear that climate change could lead to a catastrophic civilizational collapse, and could even lead to the end of the human species.

we think this thought is, to some extent, on the right track.

The most powerful way we can help future generations is, we think, to prevent a catastrophe that could end advanced civilization, or even prevent any future generations from existing.

If civilization survives, we'll have a chance to later solve problems like poverty and disease, while anything that poses a truly existential threat will prevent any such progress.

However, climate change is also widely acknowledged as a major problem, conspiracy theorists aside, and receives tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars of investment.

Our guess is also that there are issues that pose much greater risks of ending civilization.

So while we think tackling climate change is an important way to help future generations, we think it's likely even higher impact for many to focus on more neglected and more existentially dangerous issues.

Biorisk, the threat from future disease

In 2006, The Guardian ordered segments of smallpox DNA via mail.

If assembled into a complete strand and transmitted to 10 people, the study estimated it could infect up to 2.2 million people in 180 days, potentially killing 660,000, if authorities did not respond quickly with vaccinations and quarantines.

We first wrote about the risks posed by catastrophic pandemics back in 2016.

Seven years later, and three years after the emergence of COVID-19, we're still concerned.

COVID-19 disrupted the world and has, so far, killed over 10 million people.

But it's easy to imagine scenarios far worse.