Quotes by Nick Bostrom

About Nick Bostrom:

Nick Bostrom is a Swedish philosopher at the University of Oxford known for his work on existential risk, the anthropic principle, human enhancement ethics, superintelligence risks, the reversal test, and consequentialism. He holds a PhD from the London School of Economics (2000). In 2011, he founded the Oxford Martin Programme on the Impacts of Future Technology, and he is currently the founding director of the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Discovering traces of life on Mars would be of tremendous scientific significance: The first time that any signs of extraterrestrial life had ever been detected. Many people would also find it heartening to learn that we're not entirely alone in this...

Nick Bostrom

Far from being the smartest possible biological species, we are probably better thought of as the stupidest possible biological species capable of starting a technological civilization - a niche we filled because we got there first, not because we ar...

Nick Bostrom

I personally don't think of myself as either an optimist or a pessimist.

Nick Bostrom

For healthy adult people, the really big thing we can foresee are ways of intervening in the ageing process, either by slowing or reversing it.

Nick Bostrom

Once a discovery has been published, there is no way of un-publishing it.

Nick Bostrom

Nanotechnology has been moving a little faster than I expected, virtual reality a little slower.

Nick Bostrom

Our approach to existential risks cannot be one of trial-and-error. There is no opportunity to learn from errors. The reactive approach — see what happens, limit damages, and learn from experience — is unworkable. Rather, we must take a proactive...

Nick Bostrom

There are some problems that technology can't solve.

Nick Bostrom

Traits acquired during one's lifetime - muscles built up in the gym, for example - cannot be passed on to the next generation. Now with technology, as it happens, we might indeed be able to transfer some of our acquired traits on to our selected offs...

Nick Bostrom

Author Bio

  • NameNick Bostrom
  • DescriptionPhilosopher
  • BornMarch 10, 1973
  • CountryUnited States Of America; Sweden
  • ProfessionPhilosopher