Article (republished on The Free Library) on the history and criticism of Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute, the research center tied to longtermism and existential-risk work, which closed in 2024. The page blocked an automated check, so this description is based on the title.
A 39-page history by SJ Beard (University of Cambridge) and Émile P. Torres of how existential risk became an academic field, tracing three successive waves: an explicitly transhumanist and techno-utopian first wave, a second built on longtermism and closely tied to Effective Altruism, and a third formed where the field met disaster studies, environmental science and public policy. Posted to SSRN January 2021, revised March 2021.
Why I recommend it: Free — the full PDF downloads without an account. This is the piece to read before anyone quotes an extinction probability at you, because it shows the field's assumptions were inherited from a particular movement rather than discovered. It is a working paper posted by the authors, not journal peer-reviewed, and the authors are participants in the debate they are describing, so it is a history written from inside.
Free long-form Truthdig critique of effective altruism and longtermism, tracing the movement's funding, scandals and eugenic intellectual roots.
From the site: The multibillion-dollar Effective Altruism movement makes rich people feel good about being rich — to hell with the bad publicity.
Why I recommend it: Pointed and openly hostile to its subject. Read it next to the movement's own writing so you can judge which claims are documented and which are argument.
An end-to-end platform that helps ambitious philanthropists and institutions coordinate high-impact giving and longtermist projects.
From the site: Lightcone Commons is a platform for coordinating ambitious philanthropy. Leverage evaluators with strong track records. Split the bill fairly with other funders. Maintain full control over your giving. Commit nothing in advance.
Introductory resource hub for longtermism: explanations, FAQ, further reading and ways to get involved. Explores how protecting future generations can guide research, advocacy and policy today.
From the site: Longtermism is the view that positively influencing the long-run future is a key moral priority of our time.
Newsletter and blog covering transformative AI risk, AI alignment, forecasting, longtermism and how to navigate the century ahead. By Holden Karnofsky; posts are freely readable with an optional audio version.
From the site: For audio version, search for "Cold Takes Audio" in your podcast app
SSRN working paper by Carla Zoe Cremer (Oxford) and Luke Kemp (Cambridge) examining how existential risk studies can be made more rigorous, pluralistic and democratic. Argues for separating extinction ethics from risk analysis and drawing on broader risk-assessment literature.
Philosopher and senior research fellow at Forethought, working on AGI preparedness and longtermism. Co-founded Giving What We Can, 80,000 Hours, the Centre for Effective Altruism and the Global Priorities Institute; author of Doing Good Better and What We Owe the Future.
Émile P. Torres's weekly newsletter examining the ideologies driving Silicon Valley — effective altruism, longtermism, TESCREAL, and the race to build artificial superintelligence — from a critical, insider-turned-skeptic perspective.
From the site: Stop doomscrolling and just read this! Click to read Realtime Techpocalypse Newsletter, by Émile P. Torres, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.
A long-form critical essay by Émile P. Torres arguing that the effective altruism movement has become a cult-like ideology with its own doctrines, charismatic leaders, jargon and social controls — and that this matters for how AI is being developed.
From the site: Understanding the "Scientology of Silicon Valley." (7,700 words)
The academic and popular-writing home page of philosopher Émile P. Torres, covering existential risk, the history of human-extinction thought, and critical work on TESCREAL ideologies in Silicon Valley.
