A History Of Existential Risk - Thomas Moynihan - #306

**Chris Williamson** (0:00)
Hello friends, welcome back. My guest today is Thomas Moynihan. He's a historian and an author, and we're talking about the history of existential risk. Humans may only have had the ability to destroy ourselves for the last 100 years or so, but thinkers have been hypothesizing about the potential end of existence for thousands of years. Today, Thomas explains the history of how humanity came to realize its potential for extinction. As far as I'm concerned, existential risk is the topic that no one is talking about, which the entire planet should be focused on. And getting a backward-facing view that actually gives us the foundations of how we've arrived at our understanding now is super interesting. I thought, well, what's the point of looking back, given that the existential risks that we're encountering will be in the future? But actually, we can learn an awful lot. We learn about the principle of plentitude and about conceptual inertia, tons of really interesting insights from intellectual history, which is basically the history of ideas. And that's what Thomas looks at. He's awesome. I really hope that you enjoy this. And if you are interested in getting into more of this topic, we give you some great book recommendations throughout the episode. So feel free to delve into them. In other news, this episode is brought to you by Pure Sport CBD. Pure Sport CBD have just released the world's first nootropic-infused CBD oils designed to get you through any problem that the day might throw at you. I've been using the Unwind, which is their nighttime blend, and it's really had a positive impact on my sleep. If you are struggling to get to sleep on a nighttime, I highly recommend that you go and try this out. You get 1500 milligrams of CBD alongside valerian root, which is nature's valium, chamomile, an antioxidant-rich flower that promotes sleepiness and reduces insomnia, lavender, which has been used for thousands of years as a calming agent, and vitamin B complex, an essential group of vitamins the body needs every day, which helps reduce stress and enhance your mood. They also have a ton of other products, including Pure CBDs that are the highest quality that you can get. Also, they double test every batch of their products. It is the highest quality CBD products that you can get. And if you've been thinking, I really should upgrade my supplement regime for a nighttime, or maybe it would be good for me to have something to help me focus on my clarity, Pure Sport have done the hard work. You don't need to blend a ton of different supplements together. They have already worked out the optimal dosage that you need and put it into one easy package. Plus, you get 20% discount site-wide on all full-priced items, plus free shipping in the UK and £6.99 international shipping at puresportcbd.com/modernwisdom.
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