Riley Harris

  • The repugnant solution (for nerds only)

    Recently, I was reading David Thorstad’s new paper “Existential risk pessimism and the time of perils”. In it, he models the value of reducing existential risk on a range of different assumptions. The headline result is that 1) most plausibly, existential risk reduction is not overwhelmingly valuable–though it may still be quite valuable, it doesn’t…

  • “Are we living at the Hinge of History” summarised in four quotes

    Our money goes further in the future, giving us an initial reason to invest to spend later. Unless we live at an especially important time.

  • I’ve Changed My Mind About Nuclear Power

    In certain circles, nuclear is seen as one of the best options for powering the world. For many years I too was pro nuclear. This is an important update because it changes what policies I think are best.

  • Attracting Exceptionally Famous Speakers to Your Events

    I was so excited by our event with Peter Singer last year. My small team of core student organizers managed to book a sought-after public figure with almost no money or experience. Hundreds found our Facebook event with no advertising, and about 50 people rocked up to ask the renowned philosopher questions. How did we…

  • Radical Democracy

    How can governance represent the needs of the people?  How can governments disseminate power, and give equal consideration of interests? One proposal is quadratic voting, outlined in the book “Radical Markets”. The authors, Eric Posner and Glen Weyl, propose “Quadratic Voting”. This proposal replaces ‘one person one vote’. It replaces equal influence in choosing governments…