✅ Introduction to episode #19 with Anders Sandberg. ✅ Brain emulation - does it preserve ”you”? ✅ Detailed show notes. ✅ Biological risks and superintelligence. ✅ The optimistic outlook on humanity's future.

🤙🏼 Want to connect? Add me on LinkedIn. 🙏🏼 Not subscribed to the LEVITY podcast on Youtube yet? Do it here. 🎧 More of a listener? The LEVITY podcast is also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other places.

When the war in Ukraine started, Anders Sandberg was walking along the corridors at Oxford humming 80's pop songs about nuclear armageddon (including one you might otherwise associate with longevity: Forever Young by Alphaville).

That's the thing about Anders - he can have deep conversations about existential risks while maintaining a joyous perspective. In this episode of LEVITY, Patrick and I engage with our fellow Swede, a philosopher and researcher from the Institute for Future Studies in Stockholm, as he shares his optimistic outlook on humanity's future.

Despite discussing nuclear threats, biological risks, and superintelligent AI, Anders brings a wonderful and, I would argue, unique mix of philosophical depth and playful curiosity to these weighty topics. Our conversation spans from personal identity and brain emulation to the nature of death and the potential ”telescoping of the future” where technological advancement might accelerate beyond our imagination.

In this episode you’ll learn about:

✅ Existential risks and Anders' optimistic view that we have a 90% chance of surviving this century.

✅ Why our current era might be humanity's ”crunch time” with unprecedented technological risks.

✅ The philosophical debate about whether death is bad for you personally.

✅ The nature of personal identity and whether brain emulation preserves ”you”.

✅ AI development and the potential ”telescoping of the future” where advancements happen rapidly.

✅ Nuclear war as an ongoing existential threat that shouldn't be forgotten.

✅ Biological risks from advancing biotechnology and decentralized threats.

✅ Anders' vision of humans potentially becoming like ”mitochondria” in a future AI civilization.

You can watch the episode below or listen to it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or other places, like PocketCasts. Please follow, like and subscribe! 🙏🏼 This will boost our chances of reaching a bigger audience.

A detailed overview of the episode