“It is possible that efforts to contemplate some risk area—say, existential risk—will do more harm than good. One might suppose that thinking about a topic should be entirely harmless, but this is not necessarily so. If one gets a good idea, one will be tempted to share it; and in so doing one might create an information hazard. Still, one likes to believe that, on balance, investigations into existential risks and most other risk areas will tend to reduce rather than increase the risks of their subject matter.”

— Nick Bostrom

Information Hazards: A Typology of Potential Harms From Knowledge https://nickbostrom.com/information-hazards.pdf (2011)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "It is possible that efforts to contemplate some risk area—say, existential risk—will do more harm than good. One might …" by Nick Bostrom?

Nick Bostrom24

Swedish philosopher 1973

Related quotes

“Rather than reacting to every risk we hear and see, we should make an effort to discern which ones we can do something about.”

Ben Carson (1951) 17th and current United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; American neurosurgeon

Source: Take The Risk (2008), p. 58

“Do you know what damnation can be, Sir? It can be a state of permanent caution, making one chronically unable to risk anything, even a risk which might save one from extinction.”

Michael Moorcock book The City in the Autumn Stars

Source: The City in the Autumn Stars (1986), Chapter 7 (p. 283)

“The biggest existential risk to humanity is humanity itself, unless human beings learn to coexist peacefully and help one another willingly.”

Newton Lee American computer scientist

The Transhumanism Handbook, 2019

“Creativity requires risk. So do exploration and innovation. Anyone who thinks outside of the box is taking a risk. Leadership brings many risk. Courage is exercised in the face of risk. Invest involve risk. Decision-making always mean a certain degree of risk.”

Ben Carson (1951) 17th and current United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; American neurosurgeon

Source: Take The Risk (2008), p. 161

“A man should not risk his life for beauty alone, Kiall, for that fades. You might as well risk it for a rose. Think on it.”

David Gemmell book Quest for Lost Heroes

Source: Drenai series, Quest for Lost Heroes, Ch. 4

“Not taking risks one doesn't understand is often the best form of risk management.”

Raghuram G. Rajan (1963) Indian economist

From his book: Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy (2010) https://books.google.co.in/books/about/Fault_Lines.html?id=2RB3j_YfEg0C

“All novelty involves some degree of risk. The vast majority of biological mutations are said to be harmful. When, as in human affairs, enormous numbers of random possibilities are eliminated by rational choice, the chances of harm rather than good resulting are reduced, not eliminated.”

Tom Burns (1913–2001) British sociologist

Source: The Management of Innovation, 1961, p. 21

“The more we think about risk, the more risk seem to be.”

Ben Carson (1951) 17th and current United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; American neurosurgeon

Source: Take The Risk (2008), p. 58