Thomas Moynihan
@thomasmoynihan.bsky.social
Historian interested in the future: its perils & potentials | Research Affiliate at Cambridge University's Centre for the Study of Existential Risk & The Berggruen Institute's Antikythera Thinktank
| Book📕➜ https://penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2214521
| Book📕➜ https://penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2214521
Reposted by Thomas Moynihan
Existential fear of science leading to catastrophic consequences is not new, and every time so far turned out unfounded, writes @thomasmoynihan.bsky.social, but might it, this time, be different?
Sinister ‘mirror’ life could pose real danger and is close to reality:
buff.ly/X7LsUzL
Sinister ‘mirror’ life could pose real danger and is close to reality:
buff.ly/X7LsUzL
September 18, 2025 at 5:36 AM
Existential fear of science leading to catastrophic consequences is not new, and every time so far turned out unfounded, writes @thomasmoynihan.bsky.social, but might it, this time, be different?
Sinister ‘mirror’ life could pose real danger and is close to reality:
buff.ly/X7LsUzL
Sinister ‘mirror’ life could pose real danger and is close to reality:
buff.ly/X7LsUzL
I wrote about 'Mirror Life' for @bigthink. None other than Louis Pasteur was already speculating on the possibility back in 1860! The piece also explores the recurrent fear that science might discover exotic new forms of life or matter which might wipe us all out. 🦠
bigthink.com/the-past/mir...
bigthink.com/the-past/mir...
“Mirror life” and the recurring nightmare of scientific apocalypse
The fear of unleashing forces beyond control has haunted science for centuries.
bigthink.com
September 16, 2025 at 11:14 AM
I wrote about 'Mirror Life' for @bigthink. None other than Louis Pasteur was already speculating on the possibility back in 1860! The piece also explores the recurrent fear that science might discover exotic new forms of life or matter which might wipe us all out. 🦠
bigthink.com/the-past/mir...
bigthink.com/the-past/mir...
Reposted by Thomas Moynihan
#modernity #history #possibility #alterity
Latest #mustread article by @thomasmoynihan.bsky.social - about Science As Exaptation of Voluntarism, with lots of juicy historical details, bringing some “cosmic emotion” in the wake of so many lucky eucatastrophes.
www.combinationsmag.com/in-defense-o...
Latest #mustread article by @thomasmoynihan.bsky.social - about Science As Exaptation of Voluntarism, with lots of juicy historical details, bringing some “cosmic emotion” in the wake of so many lucky eucatastrophes.
www.combinationsmag.com/in-defense-o...
In Defense of Secular Religions
Modern ideals of scientific and moral progress promise that rational inquiry can cleanse our beliefs of worldly bias. The history of those ideals suggests that this is neither possible nor desirable.
www.combinationsmag.com
August 13, 2025 at 10:10 AM
#modernity #history #possibility #alterity
Latest #mustread article by @thomasmoynihan.bsky.social - about Science As Exaptation of Voluntarism, with lots of juicy historical details, bringing some “cosmic emotion” in the wake of so many lucky eucatastrophes.
www.combinationsmag.com/in-defense-o...
Latest #mustread article by @thomasmoynihan.bsky.social - about Science As Exaptation of Voluntarism, with lots of juicy historical details, bringing some “cosmic emotion” in the wake of so many lucky eucatastrophes.
www.combinationsmag.com/in-defense-o...
A real pleasure to feature on the Berggruen Institute's new Futurology Podcast, in conversation with Benjamin Britton.
Listen here: youtu.be/6urjhHrT3wc?...
Listen here: youtu.be/6urjhHrT3wc?...
July 31, 2025 at 8:30 AM
A real pleasure to feature on the Berggruen Institute's new Futurology Podcast, in conversation with Benjamin Britton.
Listen here: youtu.be/6urjhHrT3wc?...
Listen here: youtu.be/6urjhHrT3wc?...
Reposted by Thomas Moynihan
Check out this interactive timeline by CSER research affiliate @thomasmoynihan.bsky.social published in Antikythera's journal.
The History of Now explores how humans have tried to understand our place in time, mapping key predictions & discoveries throughout history.
⬇️
historyofnow.antikythera.org
The History of Now explores how humans have tried to understand our place in time, mapping key predictions & discoveries throughout history.
⬇️
historyofnow.antikythera.org
History of Now
historyofnow.antikythera.org
July 24, 2025 at 8:46 AM
Check out this interactive timeline by CSER research affiliate @thomasmoynihan.bsky.social published in Antikythera's journal.
The History of Now explores how humans have tried to understand our place in time, mapping key predictions & discoveries throughout history.
⬇️
historyofnow.antikythera.org
The History of Now explores how humans have tried to understand our place in time, mapping key predictions & discoveries throughout history.
⬇️
historyofnow.antikythera.org
My latest, for @asimovpress.bsky.social, On the quip that life is "just" slime, clinging to a rock, spinning around a modest star... and why this outlook is cosmically misguided. 🦠
www.asimov.press/p/slime
www.asimov.press/p/slime
Life as Slime
Prominent scientists continue to claim life is “just” slime on a spinning rock. However, in an age when the rarity and fragility of life are increasingly evident, it’s time to retire the metaphor.
www.asimov.press
June 9, 2025 at 5:01 PM
My latest, for @asimovpress.bsky.social, On the quip that life is "just" slime, clinging to a rock, spinning around a modest star... and why this outlook is cosmically misguided. 🦠
www.asimov.press/p/slime
www.asimov.press/p/slime
I spoke with Jim Mora for Radio New Zealand's flagship Sunday Morning Show about hope, the future, human extinction, global risk, and the idea of inevitability in history's tendencies. 🌍
Link here: www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Link here: www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Thomas Moynihan: Is increasing complexity humanity's path to survival or destruction?
Will humanity's 'global brain' of shared knowledge and cooperation lead to a better future, or to our extinction? Jim Mora talks with Cambridge University's Dr Thomas Moynihan.
www.rnz.co.nz
May 26, 2025 at 6:54 PM
I spoke with Jim Mora for Radio New Zealand's flagship Sunday Morning Show about hope, the future, human extinction, global risk, and the idea of inevitability in history's tendencies. 🌍
Link here: www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Link here: www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Reposted by Thomas Moynihan
Big FOMO for missing out on the excellent Scales of Life: From Basal #Cognition to #Planetary #Intelligence conference - 14-15 May at ICI #Berlin
Keynote by @drmichaellevin.bsky.social
and Deborah Coen and @thomasmoynihan.bsky.social
Register free at the link below! 👇
Keynote by @drmichaellevin.bsky.social
and Deborah Coen and @thomasmoynihan.bsky.social
Register free at the link below! 👇
May 14, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Big FOMO for missing out on the excellent Scales of Life: From Basal #Cognition to #Planetary #Intelligence conference - 14-15 May at ICI #Berlin
Keynote by @drmichaellevin.bsky.social
and Deborah Coen and @thomasmoynihan.bsky.social
Register free at the link below! 👇
Keynote by @drmichaellevin.bsky.social
and Deborah Coen and @thomasmoynihan.bsky.social
Register free at the link below! 👇
My latest essay, for @bigthink.com!
Asteroid #2024YR4 recently provoked fears of cosmic collision. But astronomy's quest to forecast such hazards goes back to the very origin of science itself. In fact, such efforts provided early vindication of the promise of the scientific method...☄️
Read below!
Asteroid #2024YR4 recently provoked fears of cosmic collision. But astronomy's quest to forecast such hazards goes back to the very origin of science itself. In fact, such efforts provided early vindication of the promise of the scientific method...☄️
Read below!
Asteroid anxiety: Astronomy's 300-year quest to predict cosmic collisions
Fears of celestial collisions — and calculations of their likelihood — go back to the very origins of modern science itself.
bigthink.com
March 10, 2025 at 11:57 AM
My latest essay, for @bigthink.com!
Asteroid #2024YR4 recently provoked fears of cosmic collision. But astronomy's quest to forecast such hazards goes back to the very origin of science itself. In fact, such efforts provided early vindication of the promise of the scientific method...☄️
Read below!
Asteroid #2024YR4 recently provoked fears of cosmic collision. But astronomy's quest to forecast such hazards goes back to the very origin of science itself. In fact, such efforts provided early vindication of the promise of the scientific method...☄️
Read below!
Thought this provided a good impetus to (finally) start a Bluesky account!
My latest article, for @aeon.co on how humanity gained its bearings in time, and why this stands set to inculate a revolution in our sense of who and what we are...
Read here! aeon.co/essays/how-h...
My latest article, for @aeon.co on how humanity gained its bearings in time, and why this stands set to inculate a revolution in our sense of who and what we are...
Read here! aeon.co/essays/how-h...
How humanity moved from ‘eternal’ to ‘bookended’ time | Aeon Essays
Nothing lasts forever: not humanity, not Earth, not the Universe. But finitude confers an indelible meaning to our lives
aeon.co
February 17, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Thought this provided a good impetus to (finally) start a Bluesky account!
My latest article, for @aeon.co on how humanity gained its bearings in time, and why this stands set to inculate a revolution in our sense of who and what we are...
Read here! aeon.co/essays/how-h...
My latest article, for @aeon.co on how humanity gained its bearings in time, and why this stands set to inculate a revolution in our sense of who and what we are...
Read here! aeon.co/essays/how-h...