Metatechnological Mapping and the Ye Wenjie Effect: Mitigating Civilizational Vulnerabilities

ABSTRACT In a widely cited study in this Journal, Nick Bostrom has posed the Vulnerable World Hypothesis (VWH): technological development, if occurring under conditions similar to those in the present, will make the devastation of civilization likely. In light of such drastic consequences, the hypothesis is worth serious discussion in both breadth and depth. Two related proposals are hereby made and justified: first, creating a metatechnological map (or “tech tree”) capable of telling in advance where exactly the dangerous technologies are, and second, reducing the size of the apocalyptic residual by antitotalitarian deradicalization and deprogramming. Both are modest proposals in the sense that they imply neither deep restructuring of human nature nor building instruments for potential totalitarian violations of civil rights and liberties.