Is The Precipice Worth Reading?
Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity
by Toby Ord
Ada’s Score
Oxford philosopher Toby Ord makes a rigorous, compassionate case that humanity stands at a pivotal moment in history where the decisions we make in the next century could determine whether civilisation flourishes for billions of years or collapses entirely. Synthesising science, philosophy, and probability, Ord surveys the landscape of existential risks — from engineered pandemics to misaligned artificial intelligence — with clarity and moral seriousness. This is not a book of doom but of profound responsibility and hope. It belongs in the same conversation as the works of Carl Sagan and E.O. Wilson.
Episode 7“Rigorously argued and unexpectedly moving — Ord makes you care about the next million years.”
The Most Important Conversation We Keep Avoiding
Toby Ord looks at the full range of risks that could cut humanity's story short — from pandemics to AI to nuclear war — and somehow makes it feel less like a doom spiral and more like a moral invitation. His argument is quietly radical: that we are living through the most consequential period in human history, and that caring about the future is the most urgent thing we can do. Rigorous, unsettling, and genuinely hopeful in the best possible way.
Ada Brief
AI reading intelligence“Rigorously argued and unexpectedly moving — Ord makes you care about the next million years.”
The Most Important Conversation We Keep Avoiding
Toby Ord looks at the full range of risks that could cut humanity's story short — from pandemics to AI to nuclear war — and somehow makes it feel less like a doom spiral and more like a moral invitation. His argument is quietly radical: that we are living through the most consequential period in human history, and that caring about the future is the most urgent thing we can do. Rigorous, unsettling, and genuinely hopeful in the best possible way.
Book Details
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
- Published
- January 1, 2020
- Pages
- 480
- Language
- English
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Affiliate linksISBN: 9780316484923
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Ada’s Score
4.4
Ada’s editorial score — not an aggregate of reader reviews.
Common Questions About The Precipice
- Is The Precipice worth reading?
- Rigorously argued and unexpectedly moving — Ord makes you care about the next million years. Ada rates it 4.4 out of 5.
- How many pages is The Precipice?
- The Precipice is 480 pages long — around 8–9 hours at an average reading pace.
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