Remarks on the Vulnerable World Hypothesis Nick Bostrom

Abstract

In the past few decades, there is trend of increasing number of new  inventions and technologies being introduced to the world. While  conventionally, all new technologies are considered as an indicator of  human progress, but as Nick Bostrom argues, actually we may think  of new inventions as picking balls from an urn. We can find: white  balls (good inventions to benefit of mankind), grey balls (inventions  which bring some good but also some harms to mankind), and black  balls (inventions which may bring the world population into  extinction). In this short review, while we agree with Bostrom’s  arguments, we don’t agree on his recipe to create a global  surveillance. We discuss a few examples other than what Bostrom  points out.