The Collective Intelligence of Women Could Save the World

Neil deGrasse Tyson was once asked about his thoughts on the cosmos. In a slow, gloomy voice, he intoned, "The universe is a deadly place. At every opportunity, it's trying to kill us. And so is Earth. From sinkholes to tornadoes, hurricanes, volcanoes, tsunamis." Tyson humorously described a very real problem: the universe is a vast obstacle course of catastrophic dangers. Asteroid impacts, supervolcanic eruptions, and global pandemics represent existential risks that could annihilate our species or irreversibly catapult us back into the Stone Age. But nature is the least of our worries. Today's greatest existential risks stem from advanced technologies like nuclear weapons, biotechnology, synthetic biology, nanotechnology, and even artificial superintelligence. These tools could trigger a disaster of unprecedented proportions. Exacerbating this situation are "threat multipliers" -- issues like climate change and biodiveristy loss, which, while devastating in their own right, can also lead to an escalation of terrorism, pandemics, famines, and potentially even the use of WTDs (weapons of total destruction). The good news is that none of these existential threats are inevitable. Humanity can overcome every single known danger. But accomplishing this will require the smartest groups working together for the common good of human survival. So, how do we ensure that we have the smartest groups working to solve the problem? Get women involved. A 2010 study, published in Scie...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news