Philosopher of Oxford: there is a one in six chance that we will die out this century

Toby Ord is an Oxford philosopher, advisor to the World Health Organization and the World Bank and it talks about something that for these months has become a conversation around the world: the end of the human being.

He is the author of a study published in his book “The Precipice” (The precipice) in which he ensures that “There is a one in six chance of us going extinct in this same century.”

In conversation with El Confidencial, Ord is somewhat optimistic, because he believes that the end of the world can be avoided. The bad news, remember, is that it has never been as easy as we are now extinct. The good one, that we have never become extinct.

“Europe survived in the Middle Ages, losing 25 to 50% of its population in the Black Death, which could mean that to trigger the collapse of civilization it would require more than 50% mortality in all regions of the world.”

When it comes to natural pandemics, humans have been surviving tens of thousands of years, so he does not believe that “they are a threat to extinction, although they can be very devastating.”

He also warns that, “with the increase in global communications and overpopulation, things can get much worse in terms of pandemics than with covid-19.” But more dangerous than zoonotic viruses like SARS-CoV-2 appear to him are the potential threats from terrorist groups designing biological weapons, a technology that, unlike nuclear weapons, is becoming increasingly accessible and difficult to trace.

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