Surviving progress: managing the collective risks of civilization

Mark Jablonowski

Journal of Risk Research, 2015, vol. 18, issue 10, 1221-1229

Abstract: As optimism is becoming ever more apparent, progress carries with it both promise and pitfalls. Though it is quite natural for humans to take an optimistic view of life, this optimism must at the same time be tempered with realism. We cannot therefore let a focus on average, or expected, outcomes cause us to ignore possible high-stakes (existential) risks associated with what is becoming an increasingly complex world. In this paper, we argue that a more complete view is necessary for a proper assessment of not only the technical aspects of high-stakes risk management, but also the social, political, and economic framework within which it is carried out. Unfortunately, attention to such crucial details is not often the case.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1080/13669877.2013.815647

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