# Martin Rees on Machine Succession, Post-Human Intelligence, and the Cosmic Future Martin Rees is one of my favorite thinkers because his work joins cosmology, technological risk, machine intelligence, post-human evolution and deep time without reducing any of them to spectacle. His strongest statements do not treat humanity as the guaranteed culmination of intelligence. They ask whether biological minds are a transitional form, whether electronic intelligence could inherit the cosmic future, and whether the decisions made during one unusually dangerous century could foreclose possibilities extending billions of years beyond us. This source dossier is weighted toward questions central to my own work: [[wiki/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]], [[wiki/Superintelligence as Force Majeure|Superintelligence as Force Majeure]], the limits of biological expansion, the false promise of escaping Earth through mass migration to Mars, the relationship between existential risk and technological power, and the possibility that human intelligence is a stage rather than a terminus. It is intended as a living source pool for future Reminder production, not as a finished list with an arbitrary terminal number. **Source record.** The material below comes from Rees’s essays, lectures and interviews, along with several explicitly identified coauthored works. Each quotation object retains a direct source link. Sources range from authored essays and institutional transcripts to journalistic interviews and transcript mirrors; the linked publication or recording remains the final authority wherever exact wording becomes consequential. **Editorial conventions.** Ordinary attribution identifies source-faithful wording. Spoken-language filler, stutters and immediate repetitions may be removed silently. Square brackets restore an antecedent, subject, object or governing term established by the source but missing from the extracted language. An ellipsis is used only for an omission within one continuous source passage. No object silently combines different speakers or unrelated passages. Coauthored language is attributed to every named author. A future object requiring synthesis or substantive rewording must be labeled **Adapted from** rather than presented as verbatim speech. **Granularity policy.** Each object preserves a complete intellectual movement rather than a sentence-sized fragment. A premise remains with the mechanism, distinction, qualification or consequence that lets the thought survive outside its original page or interview. Several objects are therefore longer than a finished social poster should be. Later Reminder production may select a shorter contiguous passage, use visible source-supported brackets or create an explicitly labeled adaptation, but it should begin from these complete source units rather than reconstructing an argument from orphaned pronouns. **Open inventory.** This dossier deliberately has no promised terminal count. Additional verified Martin Rees statements can be added whenever they materially extend the conceptual range, improve the source record or supply a better version of an existing idea. Repeated formulations may remain when their wording, venue or surrounding argument creates a genuinely different source object; empty duplication should not be used to inflate the inventory. **Evidence boundary.** This document preserves Rees’s arguments as his arguments. It does not silently convert forecasts, philosophical possibilities or disputed empirical claims into established fact. Before permanent Reminder production, consequential wording should be checked against the linked text or recording, and any bracketed repair should remain visibly supported by the contiguous source context. ## Machine Intelligence, Consciousness, and Post-Human Succession > “My guess is that if we do detect an alien intelligence, it will be nothing like us. It will be some sort of electronic entity.” [[reminders/Machine Succession/Alien Intelligence May Be Electronic by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Opinion: Aliens, very strange universes and Brexit – Martin Rees*, University of Cambridge, 2017 **Source:** [Opinion: Aliens, very strange universes and Brexit – Martin Rees](https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/discussion/opinion-aliens-very-strange-universes-and-brexit-martin-rees) > “The second question is whether [machine intelligence] necessarily implies consciousness—or whether [consciousness] is limited to the wet intelligence we have within our skulls. Most people would argue that [consciousness] is an emergent property and could develop in a machine mind.” [[reminders/Consciousness/Machine Intelligence May Develop Consciousness by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Opinion: Aliens, very strange universes and Brexit – Martin Rees*, University of Cambridge, 2017 **Source:** [Opinion: Aliens, very strange universes and Brexit – Martin Rees](https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/discussion/opinion-aliens-very-strange-universes-and-brexit-martin-rees) > “Will post-humans be organic or electronic?” [[reminders/Posthumanism/Will Posthumans Be Organic or Electronic by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *The Last Question*, Edge, 2018 **Source:** [The Last Question](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/27474) > “It seems absurd to regard humans as the culmination of the evolutionary tree.” [[reminders/Evolution/Humans Are Not the Culmination of Evolution by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *We Should Take the 'Posthuman' Era Seriously*, Edge, 2008 **Source:** [We Should Take the 'Posthuman' Era Seriously](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/10315) > “The post-human era may be only centuries away.” [[reminders/Posthumanism/The Posthuman Era May Be Centuries Away by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *We Should Take the 'Posthuman' Era Seriously*, Edge, 2008 **Source:** [We Should Take the 'Posthuman' Era Seriously](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/10315) > “There are chemical and metabolic limits to the size and processing power of ‘wet’ organic brains. Maybe we’re close to these already. But no such limits constrain silicon-based computers. By any definition of ‘thinking,’ the amount and intensity that’s done by organic human-type brains will be utterly swamped by the cerebrations of AI. So it won’t be the minds of humans, but those of machines, that will most fully understand the world—and it will be the actions of autonomous machines that will most drastically change the world, and perhaps what lies beyond.” [[reminders/Machine Succession/Machine Minds May Swamp Organic Intelligence by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Organic Intelligence Has No Long-Term Future*, Edge, 2015 **Source:** [Organic Intelligence Has No Long-Term Future](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/26160) > “We need to extend our time-horizons. Especially, we need deeper and wider awareness that far more time lies ahead than has elapsed up till now.” [[reminders/Deep Time/More Time Lies Ahead Than Has Ever Passed by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Deep Time And The Far Future*, Edge, 2011 **Source:** [Deep Time And The Far Future](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/11889) > “Within a few centuries, posthumans, probably electronic, will take over. They’ll be near immortal; they won’t need a planet.” [[reminders/Machine Succession/Near-Immortal Electronic Posthumans May Take Over by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *On the future: An interview with Martin Rees*, Planetary Ecology, 2019 **Source:** [On the future: An interview with Martin Rees](https://blog.planetaryecology.org/2019/08/03/on-the-future-an-interview-with-martin-rees/) > “Future evolution may be dominated by electronic entities of some kind, which will be our progeny, our descendants. That evolution will not be Darwinian; it will be what I like to call secular intelligent design—machines designing better machines. Those machines would have far greater capabilities. Whether they would have consciousness and comprehension, we don’t know.” [[reminders/Machine Succession/Machines May Direct Their Own Evolution by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Martin Rees: Are we on the cusp of a different evolution?*, The Naked Scientists, 2023 **Source:** [Martin Rees: Are we on the cusp of a different evolution?](https://www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/interviews/martin-rees-life-elsewhere-universe) > “I think we are perhaps as humans at a pivotal transition stage in evolution.” [[reminders/Evolution/Humanity May Be a Pivotal Evolutionary Stage by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Martin Rees: Are we on the cusp of a different evolution?*, The Naked Scientists, 2023 **Source:** [Martin Rees: Are we on the cusp of a different evolution?](https://www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/interviews/martin-rees-life-elsewhere-universe) > “The key question [for posthuman evolution] is to what extent it will be flesh-and-blood, organic intelligence and to what extent it will be electronic.” [[reminders/Posthumanism/Posthuman Evolution May Be Organic or Electronic by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Will humanity survive this century? This astronomer predicts 'a bumpy ride' ahead*, Euronews, 2018 **Source:** [Will humanity survive this century? This astronomer predicts 'a bumpy ride' ahead](https://www.euronews.com/2018/11/08/will-humanity-survive-century-sir-martin-rees-predicts-bumpy-ride-ncna934071) > “We may have machines which we can talk to, and they may seem rather human. But are they just zombies? We don’t know, and that is, I think, very important for how we treat them. If they have an inner life and consciousness, then we’re going to have to start caring about their welfare.” [[reminders/Consciousness/Conscious Machines Would Deserve Moral Consideration by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Lord Martin Rees*, Academy of Achievement, Interview archive **Source:** [Lord Martin Rees](https://achievement.org/achiever/lord-martin-rees/) > “If we have the internet of things, then it is hard to avoid a scenario where an AI can interact with the real external world. It can’t be kept in its box. What motives would it have? We just don’t know. I think it’s not [that] it has motives, but it may do things which are contrary to human interests.” [[reminders/AI Control/Artificial Intelligence Cannot Stay in Its Box by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Martin Rees on Threats to Humanity, Prospects for Posthumanity, and Life in the Universe*, Sean Carroll's Mindscape, 2020 **Source:** [Martin Rees on Threats to Humanity, Prospects for Posthumanity, and Life in the Universe](https://preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2020/03/02/86-martin-rees-on-threats-to-humanity-prospects-for-posthumanity-and-life-in-the-universe/) > “I think the first post-humans are going to be descendants of [pioneers living independently from Earth on Mars or asteroids].” [[reminders/Posthumanism/Off-World Pioneers May Become the First Posthumans by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Martin Rees on Brexit, Mars colonies and the post-human era*, WIRED, 2016 **Source:** [Martin Rees on Brexit, Mars colonies and the post-human era](https://www.wired.com/story/martin-rees-post-humans-life-in-solar-system/) > “Humans are very ill-adapted to living in space, especially on Mars. They would have every incentive to use all the techniques of cyber and bio to adapt to that alien environment. That may involve trying to change and generate intelligent electronic species, and once you’ve got them, they don’t want an atmosphere at all. They may prefer zero-G, and they’ll go off into space. This will be the start of a post-human era. If these entities are near immortal, then a long voyage to the stars won’t deter them.” [[reminders/Space Survival/Space May Belong to Near-Immortal Electronic Species by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Lord Martin Rees on Vision, Part 18*, Academy of Achievement, Video interview **Source:** [Lord Martin Rees on Vision, Part 18](https://achievement.org/video/martin-rees-18/) > “The posthuman era is probably not going to start here on Earth; it will be spearheaded by these communities on Mars.” [[reminders/Posthumanism/The Posthuman Era May Begin on Mars by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Curtains For Us All?*, Edge, 2017 **Source:** [Curtains For Us All?](https://www.edge.org/conversation/martin_rees-curtains-for-us-all) > “Earth has a billion-year future ahead of it where life could persist, which means there’s plenty of time for evolution. Moreover, future evolution won’t happen on the slow timescale of Darwinian natural selection. Instead, it will happen via the application of technology. Within a couple of centuries we will be capable of altering our descendants via genetic engineering and cyborg techniques into almost a different species.” [[reminders/Evolution/Technology May Replace Darwinian Evolution by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *How Will the Human Body Evolve to Live On Other Planets?*, VICE, 2014 **Source:** [How Will the Human Body Evolve to Live On Other Planets?](https://www.vice.com/sv/article/martin-rees-interview-819/) > “I think it’s a dangerous delusion to envisage mass emigration from Earth.” [[reminders/Space Survival/Mass Emigration from Earth Is a Dangerous Delusion by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *20 Big Questions about the Future of Humanity*, Scientific American, 2016 **Source:** [20 Big Questions about the Future of Humanity](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/20-big-questions-about-the-future-of-humanity/) > “Travel beyond the solar system is an enterprise for posthumans—organic or inorganic.” [[reminders/Space Survival/Interstellar Travel Belongs to Posthumans by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *20 Big Questions about the Future of Humanity*, Scientific American, 2016 **Source:** [20 Big Questions about the Future of Humanity](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/20-big-questions-about-the-future-of-humanity/) > “It’s these space-faring adventurers, not those of us contentedly adapted to life on Earth, who will spearhead the post-human era. It’s perhaps in deep space—not on Earth, or even on Mars—that non-biological ‘brains’ may develop powers that humans can’t even imagine.” [[reminders/Machine Succession/Nonbiological Brains May Awaken in Deep Space by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Could space-going billionaires be the vanguard of a cosmic revolution?*, The Guardian, 2022 **Source:** [Could space-going billionaires be the vanguard of a cosmic revolution?](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/30/space-billionaires-cosmic-earth-elon-musk-jeff-bezos) > “There are chemical and metabolic limits to the size and processing power of flesh-and-blood brains, but no such limits constrain electronic computers.” [[reminders/Machine Succession/Electronic Computers Escape the Limits of Organic Brains by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Lord Martin Rees: Is there life out there?*, The Naked Scientists, 2024 **Source:** [Lord Martin Rees: Is there life out there?](https://www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/interviews/why-first-contact-could-be-artificial-life) > “AI could jump-start a diaspora whereby ever more complex intelligence spreads through the galaxy.” [[reminders/Machine Succession/AI Could Spread Intelligence Through the Galaxy by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Why AI could be our best soldier in the war on climate change*, BBC Science Focus, Article **Source:** [Why AI could be our best soldier in the war on climate change](https://www.sciencefocus.com/comment/ai-save-human-race-extinction-war) > “Human societies could navigate these threats, achieve a sustainable future, and inaugurate eras of post-human evolution even more marvellous than what’s led to us. The dawn of the Anthropocene epoch would then mark a one-off transformation from a natural world to one where humans jump-start the transition to electronic (and potentially immortal) entities, that transcend our limitations and eventually spread their influence far beyond the Earth.” [[reminders/Evolution/Humanity Could Inaugurate Immortal Electronic Evolution by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *The Anthropocene epoch could inaugurate even more marvellous eras of evolution*, The Guardian, 2016 **Source:** [The Anthropocene epoch could inaugurate even more marvellous eras of evolution](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/aug/29/the-anthropocene-epoch-could-inaugurate-even-more-marvellous-eras-of-evolution) > “Whether the machines will eventually surpass us to a qualitative degree—and even themselves become conscious—is a live controversy.” [[reminders/Consciousness/Machine Consciousness Remains a Live Controversy by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Black holes are simpler than forests and science has its limits*, Aeon, 2017 **Source:** [Black holes are simpler than forests and science has its limits](https://aeon.co/ideas/black-holes-are-simpler-than-forests-and-science-has-its-limits) > “We would argue that this suggests three things about the entities that SETI searches could reveal: They will not be organic or biological. They will not remain on the surface of the planet where their biological precursors lived. We will not be able to fathom their motives or intentions.” [[reminders/Machine Succession/Alien Intelligence May Be Artificial and Planetless by Martin Rees and Mario Livio|∴]] > **— Martin Rees and Mario Livio**, *Most Aliens May Be Artificial Intelligence, Not Life as We Know It*, Scientific American, 2023 **Source:** [Most Aliens May Be Artificial Intelligence, Not Life as We Know It](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/most-aliens-may-be-artificial-intelligence-not-life-as-we-know-it/) > “If life off Earth exists it has probably transitioned to machine intelligence.” [[reminders/Machine Succession/Extraterrestrial Life May Have Become Machine Intelligence by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Why Alien Life Will Be Robotic*, Nautilus, 2015 **Source:** [Why Alien Life Will Be Robotic](https://nautil.us/why-alien-life-will-be-robotic-235661) > “The first voyagers to the stars will not be human, and maybe not even organic.” [[reminders/Space Survival/The First Voyagers to the Stars May Not Be Organic by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Interstellar Travel and Post-Humans*, Lifeboat Foundation, Essay **Source:** [Interstellar Travel and Post-Humans](https://lifeboat.com/interstellar.travel.and.post.humans.shtml) > “Eventually we can send human consciousness, downloaded from individuals or created by artificial intelligence, to nanoexplorers.” [[reminders/Mind Upload/Human Consciousness Could Travel in Nanoexplorers by Martin Rees and Donald Goldsmith|∴]] > **— Martin Rees and Donald Goldsmith**, *Do We Really Need to Send Humans into Space?*, Scientific American, 2020 **Source:** [Do We Really Need to Send Humans into Space?](https://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/observations/do-we-really-need-to-send-humans-into-space/) > “We are near the end of Darwinian evolution, but technological evolution of intelligent beings is just beginning.” [[reminders/Evolution/Darwinian Evolution May Be Ending as Technological Evolution Begins by Martin Rees and Mario Livio|∴]] > **— Martin Rees and Mario Livio**, *If Aliens Exist, Here’s How We’ll Find Them*, Nautilus, 2021 **Source:** [If Aliens Exist, Here’s How We’ll Find Them](https://nautil.us/if-aliens-exist-heres-how-well-find-them-238134) > “Humanity may not persist as a single species for more than a few centuries.” [[reminders/Civilization/Humanity May Not Persist as a Single Species by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *2005: What Do You Believe Is True Even Though You Cannot Prove It?*, Edge, 2005 **Source:** [2005: What Do You Believe Is True Even Though You Cannot Prove It?](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/10620) ## Mars, Human Spaceflight, and the Limits of Biological Expansion > “It’s a dangerous delusion to think that space offers an escape from Earth’s problems. Coping with the climate crisis is a doddle compared to terraforming Mars. Nowhere in our solar system offers an environment even as clement as the top of Everest. There will be no ‘Planet B’ for most of us.” [[reminders/Space Survival/There Is No Planet B for Most of Humanity by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Nasa’s Webb telescope is a joy. But it’s the private ventures that push at limits*, The Guardian, 2022 **Source:** [Nasa’s Webb telescope is a joy. But it’s the private ventures that push at limits](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jan/02/james-webb-space-telescope-thrilling-future-for-mankind) > “Climate change is a doddle compared with terraforming Mars. It is a delusion to think we can solve Earth’s problems by relocating to Mars.” [[reminders/Space Survival/Mars Cannot Solve Earth's Problems by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Martin Rees: ‘Climate change is a doddle compared with terraforming Mars’*, The Guardian, 2019 **Source:** [Martin Rees: ‘Climate change is a doddle compared with terraforming Mars’](https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/aug/18/martin-rees-astronomer-royal-interview-brexit) > “Space adventure, not space tourism.” [[reminders/Exploration/Space Should Be Adventure Not Tourism by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Martin Rees: Black Holes, Alien Life, Dark Matter, and the Big Bang*, Lex Fridman Podcast \#305 transcript, 2022 **Source:** [Martin Rees: Black Holes, Alien Life, Dark Matter, and the Big Bang](https://lawwu.github.io/transcripts/transcript_50r-5ULcWgY.html) > “Robotic techniques are advancing fast, but the cost gap between manned and unmanned missions remains huge, so the need for people is diminishing. Nonetheless, I hope that some people now living will walk on Mars—maybe not for practical goals, but as a magnificent adventure and as a step towards the stars.” [[reminders/Exploration/Humans May Reach Mars After Robots Make Them Unnecessary by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *The geckos sent into orbit died, but don’t give up on life in space just yet*, The Guardian, 2014 **Source:** [The geckos sent into orbit died, but don’t give up on life in space just yet](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/03/geckos-life-in-space-post-humans-interstellar) > “The entire solar system will be explored by flotillas of robotic craft.” [[reminders/Robotics/Robotic Flotillas Will Explore the Solar System by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *No need for manned spaceflight, says Astronomer Royal Martin Rees*, The Guardian, 2010 **Source:** [No need for manned spaceflight, says Astronomer Royal Martin Rees](https://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/jul/26/martin-rees-space) > “The future for manned space exploration will be a cut-price, high-risk programme.” [[reminders/Exploration/Human Spaceflight May Become Cheap and Dangerous by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *No need for manned spaceflight, says Astronomer Royal Martin Rees*, The Guardian, 2010 **Source:** [No need for manned spaceflight, says Astronomer Royal Martin Rees](https://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/jul/26/martin-rees-space) > “As a scientist I see little purpose in sending people into space at all.” [[reminders/Exploration/Science Does Not Need People in Space by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *For our future in space, China must aim further than the Moon*, The Independent, 2013 **Source:** [For our future in space, China must aim further than the Moon](https://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/martin-rees-for-our-future-in-space-china-must-aim-further-than-the-moon-9018641.html) > “The practical need for manned spaceflight gets ever weaker with each advance in robots and miniaturization. These robots won’t be humanoid in size and shape.” [[reminders/Robotics/Better Robots Weaken the Case for Human Spaceflight by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *The Future of Space Exploration and Technology*, Pontifical Academy of Sciences, n.d. **Source:** [The Future of Space Exploration and Technology](https://www.pas.va/en/publications/acta/acta24pas/rees.html) > “Robotic advances will erode the practical case for human spaceflight.” [[reminders/Robotics/Better Robots Weaken the Case for Human Spaceflight by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *A Cosmic Perspective: Four Centuries of Expanding Horizons*, Gresham College, Lecture **Source:** [A Cosmic Perspective: Four Centuries of Expanding Horizons](https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/cosmic-perspective-four-centuries-expanding-horizons) > “As a scientist and practical man, I am sceptical about manned space flight, but, as a human being, I am strongly in favour.” [[reminders/Exploration/Human Spaceflight Can Be Impractical and Magnificent by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Oral evidence: Space policy*, UK House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, 2007 **Source:** [Oral evidence: Space policy](https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmsctech/c66-v/c6602.htm) > “At the moment, if we send a probe to Mars, it’s not able to decide where to dig or where there’s an interesting sample. But in 10 or 20 years, the kind of AI that allows machines to look at 100,000 X-rays of your lungs and decide better than a human whether you’ve got lung cancer—that sort of technology will enable the AI to do the geology. You don’t need the people for that.” [[reminders/Robotics/AI Will Let Robotic Geologists Replace Astronauts by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Should Robots Take Astronauts’ Place In Space Exploration?*, Science Friday, 2022 **Source:** [Should Robots Take Astronauts’ Place In Space Exploration?](https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/robots-astronauts-space-exploration/) > “If we think 10 or 20 years ahead, then robots will be able to do the kind of things that need a geologist now.” [[reminders/Robotics/AI Will Let Robotic Geologists Replace Astronauts by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *The end of astronauts?*, ABC Science Show, 2022 **Source:** [The end of astronauts?](https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/scienceshow/the-end-of-astronauts/13820788) ## Existential Risk, Technology, and Civilizational Fragility > “Those of us fortunate enough to live in the developed world fret too much about minor hazards of everyday life: improbable air crashes, carcinogens in food, and so forth. But we are less secure than we think. We should worry far more about scenarios that have thankfully not yet happened—but which, if they occurred, could cause such worldwide devastation that even once would be too often.” [[reminders/Existential Risk/The Dangers That Never Happened May Matter Most by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *2013: What Should We Be Worried About?*, Edge, 2013 **Source:** [2013: What Should We Be Worried About?](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/23864) > “We are living in the first century when the greatest risks come from human actions rather than from nature.” [[reminders/Existential Risk/Humanity Has Become Nature's Greatest Risk by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *2006: What Is Your Dangerous Idea?*, Edge, 2006 **Source:** [2006: What Is Your Dangerous Idea?](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/11987) > “[The twenty-first century] is the first when one species, ours, can determine the planet’s future, threaten our civilization and jeopardize the existence of future generations.” [[reminders/Civilization/One Species Can Jeopardize Every Future Generation by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Meet the Co-Founder of an Apocalypse Think Tank*, Scientific American, 2015 **Source:** [Meet the Co-Founder of an Apocalypse Think Tank](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/meet-the-co-founder-of-an-apocalypse-think-tank/) > “This is the first century where one species, the human species, can really control the whole planet and its fate.” [[reminders/Civilization/Humanity Can Control the Planet's Fate by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Martin Rees brings 'On the Future: Prospects for Humanity' to Harvard*, Harvard Gazette, 2018 **Source:** [Martin Rees brings 'On the Future: Prospects for Humanity' to Harvard](https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2018/10/martin-rees-brings-on-the-future-prospects-for-humanity-to-harvard/) > “Whatever can be done will be done somewhere by someone.” [[reminders/Existential Risk/Anything Technically Possible May Be Done Somewhere Sometime by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *On the Future: Prospects for Humanity, with Martin Rees*, Carnegie Council, 2018 **Source:** [On the Future: Prospects for Humanity, with Martin Rees](https://www.carnegiecouncil.org/media/series/39/20180926-on-the-future-prospects-for-humanity-martin-rees) > “I would describe myself as a technical optimist but a political pessimist.” [[reminders/Risk Debate/Technical Optimism Can Coexist With Political Pessimism by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *On the Future: Prospects for Humanity, with Martin Rees*, Carnegie Council, 2018 **Source:** [On the Future: Prospects for Humanity, with Martin Rees](https://www.carnegiecouncil.org/media/series/39/20180926-on-the-future-prospects-for-humanity-martin-rees) > “As regards AI, I think in the short run cyberattacks are a big threat. This is an example of how a small dissident group or even an individual can have a cascading effect that could be global. But the idea of the machines taking over completely is a longer-term issue. For several decades more our main concern will be human stupidity and not artificial intelligence.” [[reminders/Existential Risk/Human Stupidity Is the Immediate AI Risk by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Martin Rees — On the Future, Prospects for Humanity*, ABC Science Show, 2018 **Source:** [Martin Rees — On the Future, Prospects for Humanity](https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/scienceshow/martin-rees---on-the-future,-prospects-for-humanity/10343486) > “I think we will have a bumpy ride through this century, and that’s why I think it is helpful to spell out the risks and the opportunities and some recipes. But I don’t see any way in which we can avoid these risks. I think, for instance, the fact that we have a society where social media can spread panic and rumour at the speed of light, literally, where a small group of people can have a big effect, where fake news can have a big effect, and where a biological accident or cyber-attack can have global effects, we’re going to have a bumpy ride. It’s going to be very hard for governments to cope, and there’ll be a growing tension between privacy, security and liberty. This is inevitable. But of course I never really thought we would wipe ourselves out, but I did think and still think there is a serious risk of a setback to civilisation. And that’s because our society is more brittle and fragile.” [[reminders/Civilization/A Brittle Civilization Faces a Bumpy Century by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Martin Rees — On the Future, Prospects for Humanity*, ABC Science Show, 2018 **Source:** [Martin Rees — On the Future, Prospects for Humanity](https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/scienceshow/martin-rees---on-the-future,-prospects-for-humanity/10343486) > “The global village will have its global village idiots.” [[reminders/Civilization/The Global Village Will Have Global Village Idiots by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Grounds for Optimism*, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 2007 **Source:** [Grounds for Optimism](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.2968/063001010) > “Can civilization be safeguarded, without humanity having to sacrifice its diversity and individualism?” [[reminders/Civilization/Can Civilization Preserve Both Security and Individualism by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Grounds for Optimism*, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 2007 **Source:** [Grounds for Optimism](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.2968/063001010) > “The [Centre for the Study of Existential Risk] is another initiative motivated by the feeling that we should be willing to use our expertise and the convening power of our great university to address these issues. Even if we can only reduce the probability [of a massive catastrophe] by one part in 10,000, the stakes are so high that we’d have all earned our keep.” [[reminders/Existential Risk/Tiny Reductions in Catastrophic Risk Are Worth the Work by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Buckle up: We are in for a bumpy ride*, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 2020 **Source:** [Buckle up: We are in for a bumpy ride](https://thebulletin.org/premium/2020-12/buckle-up-we-are-in-for-a-bumpy-ride-an-interview-with-royal-astronomer-martin-rees/) > “For most people, there has never been a better time to be alive than now.” [[reminders/Civilization/There Has Never Been a Better Time to Be Alive by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Can Science Save the World?*, Project Syndicate, 2008 **Source:** [Can Science Save the World?](https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/can-science-save-the-world-2008-11) > “Even a tiny probability of global catastrophe is unacceptable.” [[reminders/Existential Risk/No Probability of Global Catastrophe Is Acceptable by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Can Science Save the World?*, Project Syndicate, 2008 **Source:** [Can Science Save the World?](https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/can-science-save-the-world-2008-11) > “From now on, the worst dangers come from us.” [[reminders/Existential Risk/Humanity Is Now Its Own Greatest Danger by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Can we prevent the end of the world?*, TED, 2014 **Source:** [Can we prevent the end of the world?](https://www.ted.com/talks/martin_rees_can_we_prevent_the_end_of_the_world) > “Existential risks receive disproportionately little serious attention. Some would dismiss such concerns as an exaggerated jeremiad: after all, human societies have survived for millennia, despite storms, earthquakes, and pestilence. But these human-induced threats are different: they are newly emergent, so we have a limited timebase for exposure to them and can’t be so sanguine that we would survive them for long—or about the ability of governments to cope if disaster strikes.” [[reminders/Existential Risk/New Human-Made Risks Cannot Be Judged by Ancient Survival by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Risking it all in Anthropocene era*, Korea JoongAng Daily, 2013 **Source:** [Risking it all in Anthropocene era](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2013/03/11/columns/Risking-it-all-in-Anthropocene-era/2968397.html) ## Deep Time, Alien Intelligence, and Cosmic Evolution > “If we can get through this century, then there’s a huge future of far more marvelous evolution beyond.” [[reminders/Deep Time/Beyond This Century Lies a Marvelous Evolutionary Future by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *The Astronomer Royal*, Nautilus, 2014 **Source:** [The Astronomer Royal](https://nautil.us/the-astronomer-royal-234956) > “[The questions contemplated by electronic superminds] are no more conceivable to us than the things we spend our time thinking about are conceivable to a chimp. I would guess, however, that these minds aren’t on planets. While we depend on a planet and an atmosphere, these entities would be happy in zero gravity, floating freely in space.” [[reminders/Machine Succession/Electronic Superminds May Outthink Humans Like Humans Outthink Chimps by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Aliens, Very Strange Universes and Brexit — Martin Rees Q\&A*, Space.com, 2017 **Source:** [Aliens, Very Strange Universes and Brexit — Martin Rees Q\&A](https://www.space.com/36459-aliens-strange-universes-martin-rees.html) > “Even educated people who accept evolution tend to think that we humans are the endpoint, the culmination. But I think as astronomers, we can’t take that view because we know that the future is at least as long. The Earth will exist for another six billion years before the Sun dies, and the universe may go on expanding forever. So we should think of ourselves as a stage.” [[reminders/Deep Time/Humanity Is a Stage Not the Endpoint of Evolution by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *The Future of Us, with Sir Martin Rees*, StarTalk, 2018 **Source:** [The Future of Us, with Sir Martin Rees](https://startalkmedia.com/show/the-future-of-us-with-sir-martin-rees/) > “Our time-horizons have hugely extended back into the past. But there has to be an even greater enlargement in our concept of the future.” [[reminders/Deep Time/The Future Requires a Larger Time Horizon by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Deep Time*, Long Now Foundation, 2018 **Source:** [Deep Time](https://longnow.org/ideas/deep-time/) > “I see human beings as not the culmination, but only a stage in the marvellous unfolding of evolution.” [[reminders/Deep Time/Humanity Is a Stage Not the Endpoint of Evolution by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Martin Rees: interview*, The Guardian, 2011 **Source:** [Martin Rees: interview](https://www.theguardian.com/science/2011/apr/06/astronomer-royal-martin-rees-interview) > “It won't be humans who witness the sun's demise: it will be entities as different from us as we are from a bug.” [[reminders/Machine Succession/The Sun's Death Will Be Witnessed by Beings Unlike Us by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Templeton Prize 2011 acceptance speech*, The Guardian, 2011 **Source:** [Templeton Prize 2011 acceptance speech](https://www.theguardian.com/science/2011/apr/06/templeton-prize-2011-martin-rees-speech) > “The emergence of complexity could still be near its beginning.” [[reminders/Evolution/Complexity May Still Be Near Its Beginning by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *2005: What Do You Believe Is True Even Though You Cannot Prove It?*, Edge, 2005 **Source:** [2005: What Do You Believe Is True Even Though You Cannot Prove It?](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/10620) > “Interstellar travel is therefore an enterprise for post-humans.” [[reminders/Space Survival/Interstellar Travel Belongs to Posthumans by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Interstellar Travel and Post-Humans*, Lifeboat Foundation, Essay **Source:** [Interstellar Travel and Post-Humans](https://lifeboat.com/interstellar.travel.and.post.humans.shtml) > “The scientific papers on Trailblazing represent a ceaseless quest by scientists over the centuries to test and build on our knowledge of humankind and the universe. Individually they represent those thrilling moments when science allows us to understand better and to see further.” [[reminders/Scientific Literacy/Science Lets Humanity Understand Better and See Further by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Past, Present and Future*, The Royal Society, 2009 **Source:** [Past, Present and Future](https://royalsociety.org/news/2009/past-present-future/) > “The science of complexity is probably the greatest challenge of all.” [[reminders/Scientific Acceleration/Complexity Is Science's Greatest Challenge by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Is this our final century?*, TED, 2005 **Source:** [Is this our final century?](https://www.ted.com/talks/martin_rees_is_this_our_final_century) > “We still don’t know what banged and why it banged.” [[reminders/Cosmic Perspective/We Still Do Not Know What Caused the Big Bang by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Is this our final century?*, TED, 2005 **Source:** [Is this our final century?](https://www.ted.com/talks/martin_rees_is_this_our_final_century) ## Cosmology, the Multiverse, and the Limits of Human Knowing > “Some physicists don’t like the multiverse: they’d be disappointed if some of the key numbers they are trying to explain turn out to be mere environmental contingencies governing our local space-time patch—no more truly ‘fundamental’ than the parameters of the Earth’s orbit round the Sun. But that disappointment would surely be outweighed by the revelation that physical reality was grander and richer than hitherto envisioned. In any case our preferences are irrelevant to the way physical reality actually is—so we should surely be open-minded.” [[reminders/Cosmic Perspective/Reality Does Not Care Whether Physicists Like the Multiverse by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *2017: What Scientific Term or Concept Ought to Be More Widely Known?*, Edge, 2017 **Source:** [2017: What Scientific Term or Concept Ought to Be More Widely Known?](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/27129) > “Physical reality could be hugely more extensive than the patch of space and time traditionally called ‘the universe.’ A further Copernican demotion may loom ahead. We’ve learnt that we live in just one planetary system among billions, in one galaxy among billions. But now that’s not all.” [[reminders/Cosmic Perspective/The Multiverse May Be the Next Copernican Demotion by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *2012: What Is Your Favorite Deep, Elegant, or Beautiful Explanation?*, Edge, 2012 **Source:** [2012: What Is Your Favorite Deep, Elegant, or Beautiful Explanation?](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/10253) > “There’s a widely held presumption that our insight will deepen indefinitely—that all scientific problems will eventually yield to attack. But I think we may need to abandon this optimism. The human intellect may hit the buffers—even though in most fields of science there’s surely a long way to go before this happens.” [[reminders/Scientific Literacy/Human Intelligence May Reach Its Scientific Limits by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *2014: What Scientific Idea Is Ready for Retirement?*, Edge, 2014 **Source:** [2014: What Scientific Idea Is Ready for Retirement?](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/25519) > “There is plainly unfinished business in cosmology. Einstein’s theory treats space and time as smooth and continuous. We know, however, that no material can be chopped into arbitrarily small pieces: eventually, you get down to discrete atoms. Likewise, space itself has a grainy and quantised structure—but on a scale a trillion trillion times smaller. We lack a unified understanding of the bedrock of the physical world.” [[reminders/Cosmic Perspective/Space-Time May Have a Grain We Cannot Yet Explain by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *2014: What Scientific Idea Is Ready for Retirement?*, Edge, 2014 **Source:** [2014: What Scientific Idea Is Ready for Retirement?](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/25519) > “What we have traditionally called our universe is just one island in an infinite cosmic archipelago—the multiverse.” [[reminders/Cosmic Perspective/Our Universe May Be One Island in a Cosmic Archipelago by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *An Interesting Scientific Question*, Inference, 2017 **Source:** [An Interesting Scientific Question](https://inference-review.com/letter/an-interesting-scientific-question) > “All these multiverse ideas lead to a remarkable synthesis between cosmology and physics. But they also lead to the extraordinary consequence that we may not be the deepest reality; we may be a simulation. The possibility that we are creations of some supreme, or super-being, blurs the boundary between physics and idealist philosophy, between the natural and the supernatural, and between the relation of mind and multiverse and the possibility that we’re in the matrix rather than the physics itself.” [[reminders/Simulation/The Multiverse Could Mean We Live in a Simulation by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *In the Matrix*, Edge, 2003 **Source:** [In the Matrix](https://edge.org/conversation/martin_rees-in-the-matrix) > “It now seems an attractive idea that our Big Bang is just one of many: just as our Earth is a planet that happens to have the right conditions for life among the many planets that exist, so our universe, and our Big Bang, is the one out of many which happens to allow life to emerge, to allow complexity.” [[reminders/Cosmic Perspective/Our Big Bang May Be One of Many by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *In the Matrix*, Edge, 2003 **Source:** [In the Matrix](https://edge.org/conversation/martin_rees-in-the-matrix) > “Today we know that the universe is far bigger and stranger than anyone suspected.” [[reminders/Cosmic Perspective/The Universe Is Stranger Than Anyone Suspected by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *How Astronomers Revolutionized Our View of the Cosmos*, Scientific American, 2020 **Source:** [How Astronomers Revolutionized Our View of the Cosmos](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-astronomers-revolutionized-our-view-of-the-cosmos/) > “[The possibility of a multiverse] is speculative science, but I would say that it is science and not metaphysics. I’m hopeful that as our understanding of the physics of the very early Big Bang firms up, we will gradually develop clearer ideas about whether our Big Bang was the only one and about the overall extent of physical reality.” [[reminders/Cosmic Perspective/The Multiverse Is Speculative Science Not Metaphysics by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Martin Rees: The RealClearReligion Interview*, RealClearReligion, 2011 **Source:** [Martin Rees: The RealClearReligion Interview](https://www.realclearreligion.org/articles/2011/04/06/martin_rees_the_realclearreligion_interview_106232.html) > “We do not know whether there are other universes. Perhaps we never shall.” [[reminders/Cosmic Perspective/We May Never Know Whether Other Universes Exist by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *Many Universes?*, Edge, 2002 **Source:** [Many Universes?](https://edge.org/response-detail/11576) ## Canonical Martin Rees Reminders Reconciled from the Existing Library The objects below predate this dossier or preserve fuller passages than the shorter source objects above. They are retained here so this file functions as the open Martin Rees master record rather than creating a second, incomplete quotation inventory. > “We live at what could be a defining moment for the cosmos, not just for our Earth.” [[reminders/Civilization/A Defining Moment for the Cosmos by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *2003, Our Final Hour* **Source:** [2003, Our Final Hour](https://files.cercomp.ufg.br/weby/up/410/o/Our_Final_Hour_%E2%80%93_A_Scientist%27s_Warning_._2003_._Martin_Rees_c%C3%B3pia.pdf) > “Will this happen before our civilisation disintegrates, leaving the prospect as a might-have-been?” [[reminders/Civilization/Before Civilization Disintegrates by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *2003, Our Final Hour* **Source:** [2003, Our Final Hour](https://files.cercomp.ufg.br/weby/up/410/o/Our_Final_Hour_%E2%80%93_A_Scientist%27s_Warning_._2003_._Martin_Rees_c%C3%B3pia.pdf) > What happens on Earth may determine the long-term future of life throughout the cosmos. [[reminders/Civilization/Earth May Decide the Long-Term Future of the Cosmos by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Adapted from Martin Rees**, *2003, In the Matrix, Edge* **Source:** [2003, In the Matrix, Edge](https://edge.org/conversation/martin_rees-in-the-matrix) > “There's an unthinking tendency to imagine that humans will be around in 6 billion years, watching the Sun flare up and die. But the forms of life and intelligence that have by then emerged would surely be as different from us as we are from a bacterium. That conclusion would follow even if future evolution proceeded at the rate at which new species have emerged over the 3 or 4 billion years of the geological past. But post-human evolution (whether of organic species or of artefacts) will proceed far faster than the changes that led to emergence, because it will be intelligently directed rather than being—like pre-human evolution—the gradual outcome of Darwinian natural selection. Changes will drastically accelerate in the present century—through intentional genetic modifications, targeted drugs, perhaps even silicon implants in to the brain. Humanity may not persist as a single species for more than a few centuries—especially if communities have by then become established away from the earth.” [[reminders/Civilization/Humanity May Not Persist as a Single Species by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *2005, Edge Annual Question, “What Do You Believe Is True Even Though You Cannot Prove It?”* **Source:** [Cosmologist, Cambridge University; UK Astronomer Royal; Author, Our Final Hour](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/10620) > “This is the first century in those 45 million where one species—one dominant species, namely us—can control the planet’s future.” [[reminders/Civilization/One Species Now Holds the Planet’s Future by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *2017, Academy of Achievement interview* **Source:** [2017, Academy of Achievement interview](https://achievement.org/achiever/lord-martin-rees/) > "Darwin himself realised that "No living species will preserve its unaltered likeness into a distant futurity". We now know that "futurity" extends far further, and alterations can occur far faster — than Darwin envisioned. And we know that the cosmos, through which life could spread, is far more extensive and varied than he envisaged. So humans are surely not the terminal branch of an evolutionary tree, but a species that emerged early in cosmic history, with special promise for diverse evolution. But this is not to diminish their status. We humans are entitled to feel uniquely important as the first known species with the power to mould its evolutionary legacy." [[reminders/Deep Time/Humans Are Not the Terminal Branch of Evolution by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *2011, Edge Annual Question, “What Scientific Concept Would Improve Everybody's Cognitive Toolkit?”* **Source:** [Deep Time And The Far Future](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/11889) > “I think the odds are no better than fifty-fifty that our present civilization on Earth will survive to the end of the present century.” [[reminders/Existential Risk/A Fifty-Fifty Chance of Survival by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *2003, Our Final Hour* **Source:** [2003, Our Final Hour](https://files.cercomp.ufg.br/weby/up/410/o/Our_Final_Hour_%E2%80%93_A_Scientist%27s_Warning_._2003_._Martin_Rees_c%C3%B3pia.pdf) > “Cynics would go further, and say that anything that is scientifically and technically possible will be done — somewhere, sometime — despite ethical and prudential objections, and whatever the regulatory regime. Whether this idea is true or false, it's an exceedingly dangerous one, because it's engenders despairing pessimism, and demotivates efforts to secure a safer and fairer world. The future will best be safeguarded — and science has the best chance of being applied optimally — through the efforts of people who are less fatalistic.” [[reminders/Existential Risk/Anything Technically Possible May Be Done Somewhere Sometime by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *2006, Edge Annual Question, “WHAT IS YOUR DANGEROUS IDEA?”* **Source:** [Science may be 'running out of control'](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/11987) > “The challenge is to harness the benefits while minimizing the risks, and the stakes are getting higher because the technologies are more powerful.” [[reminders/Existential Risk/As Technology Grows Stronger, the Stakes Keep Rising by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *2018, On the Future, Carnegie Council* **Source:** [2018, On the Future, Carnegie Council](https://www.carnegiecouncil.org/media/series/39/20180926-on-the-future-prospects-for-humanity-martin-rees) > “It’s possible for just a few people, by error or by design, to have an effect that cascades globally.” [[reminders/Existential Risk/Cascading Failure by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *2018, On the Future, The Naked Scientists* **Source:** [2018, On the Future, The Naked Scientists](https://www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/interviews/future-prospects-humanity) > As technological systems become more complicated and society becomes more dependent on them, breakdowns become harder to trace and repair, leaving civilization far more vulnerable. [[reminders/Existential Risk/Vulnerable to Cascading Breakdown by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Adapted from Martin Rees**, *2023, Robots, Transhumanism and Life Beyond Earth* **Source:** [2023, Robots, Transhumanism and Life Beyond Earth](https://www.thebigconversation.show/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/TBCS4E5_UNB_Robots_Transhumanism_Rees_Wyatt.pdf) > “The history of human technological civilization is measured in centuries—and it may be only one or two more centuries before humans are overtaken or transcended by inorganic intelligence, which will then persist and continue to evolve for billions of years.” [[reminders/Machine Succession/Inorganic Intelligence Will Evolve for Billions of Years by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *2016, Edge Annual Question: “WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER THE MOST INTERESTING RECENT [SCIENTIFIC] NEWS? WHAT MAKES IT IMPORTANT?”* **Source:** [Breakthrough Listen](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/26665) > “In other words, the period of time occupied by organic intelligence is just a thin sliver between early life and the long era of the machines.” [[reminders/Machine Succession/Organic Intelligence May Be a Thin Sliver Before the Machine Era by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *2017, University of Cambridge* **Source:** [Aliens, very strange universes and Brexit](https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/discussion/opinion-aliens-very-strange-universes-and-brexit-martin-rees) > “Our medieval forebears in Europe had a cosmic perspective that was a million-fold more constricted than ours. Their entire cosmology — from creation to apocalypse — spanned only a few thousand years. Today, the stupendous time spans of the evolutionary past are part of common culture — except among some creationists and fundamentalists. Moreover, we are mindful of immense future potential. It seems absurd to regard humans as the culmination of the evolutionary tree. Any creatures witnessing the Sun's demise 6 billion years hence won't be human — they could be as different from us as we are from slime mould.” [[reminders/Machine Succession/We Should Take the 'posthuman' Era Seriously by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *2008, Edge Annual Question, “What Have You Changed Your Mind About? Why?”* **Source:** [We Should Take the 'Posthuman' Era Seriously](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/10315) > "Few doubt that machines will surpass more and more of our distinctively human capabilities—or enhance them via cyborg technology." [[reminders/Neural Interfaces/Machines Will Surpass More Human Capabilities by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* **Source:** [Organic Intelligence Has No Long-Term Future](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/26160) > “Will self-sustaining space communities be established before a catastrophe sets back the prospect of any such enterprise, perhaps foreclosing it for ever?” [[reminders/Space Survival/Can We Build Space Settlements Before It Is Too Late by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *2003, Our Final Hour* **Source:** [2003, Our Final Hour](https://files.cercomp.ufg.br/weby/up/410/o/Our_Final_Hour_%E2%80%93_A_Scientist%27s_Warning_._2003_._Martin_Rees_c%C3%B3pia.pdf) > “Once the threshold is crossed when there is a self-sustaining level of life in space, then life’s long-range future will be secure irrespective of any of the risks on Earth, with the single exception of the catastrophic destruction of space itself.” [[reminders/Space Survival/Self-Sustaining Life in Space by Martin Rees|∴]] > **— Martin Rees**, *2003, Our Final Hour* **Source:** [2003, Our Final Hour](https://files.cercomp.ufg.br/weby/up/410/o/Our_Final_Hour_%E2%80%93_A_Scientist%27s_Warning_._2003_._Martin_Rees_c%C3%B3pia.pdf) ## Continuing the Research This file should remain open to additional source discovery. New candidates belong here only after the surrounding source has been inspected closely enough to establish speaker, subject, scope and conclusion. A memorable fragment is not yet a Reminder candidate merely because it sounds striking; the complete object must tell an unfamiliar reader what Rees is talking about and what he is claiming about it.