Toby Ord: What are the odds civilisation will survive the century?

This week we talk to the philosopher Toby Ord about the end of civilisation as we know it.

Ok, it’s not all doom and gloom. As Toby says, he’s an optimistic person, but in his new book The Precipice (£25, Bloomsbury) he explains why we’re at a point in time where we, as a species, are teetering on the edge of extinction.

We discuss how much potential us homo sapiens have, what’s putting our continued survival at risk, how civilisation as we know it could come to an end, and what are the odds we’ll see out the century.

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Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast:

• Michio Kaku: The future of humanity
• William Poundstone: Can we really predict when doomsday will happen?
• John Higgs: Are Generation Z our only hope for the future?
• Brad Lister: Are we facing an insect apocalypse?
• Randall Munroe: How do you find the worst solution to any problem?
• Sir David Attenborough: How can we save our planet?

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