Like most people, I'm a compartmentalizer. For years I went blithely about my business — doing my work, watching movies, celebrating birthdays — while only rarely thinking about the end of the world.
But as I get older and as the threats to people and the planet grow more grave and imminent, I find it increasingly difficult to go too long without a pang of panic.
It was not particularly helpful that I recently read a paper from the U.S. National Intelligence Council talking about "existential threats" to mankind. They included "runaway artificial intelligence, engineered pandemics, nanotechnology weapons [and] nuclear war."
