# Existential-risk Arithmetic with Only One Column Is Theology, Not Mathematics by Bryant McGill > “You cannot honestly calculate the danger of AI while assigning a value of zero to the dangers AI may help civilization prevent. Pandemic detection, cyber defense, materials failure, energy optimization, biological discovery, asteroid science, medicine, logistics, and countless unknown problems belong on the other side of the ledger. Existential-risk arithmetic with only one column is theology, not mathematics.” > **— Bryant McGill**, *The End Is Near — AI Doom, Anti-Science Panic, and the Primates Who Sell Technological Exile, September 2026* ## Sources and Context - **Author-supplied exact original:** “You cannot honestly calculate the danger of AI while assigning a value of zero to the dangers AI may help civilization prevent. Pandemic detection, cyber defense, materials failure, energy optimization, biological discovery, asteroid science, medicine, logistics, and countless unknown problems belong on the other side of the ledger. Existential-risk arithmetic with only one column is theology, not mathematics.” — supplied directly by Bryant McGill for [[articles/AI-Tech Doomerism and Anti-Science Panic|AI-Tech Doomerism and Anti-Science Panic]]. - **Source article:** [[articles/AI-Tech Doomerism and Anti-Science Panic|AI-Tech Doomerism and Anti-Science Panic]] — Bryant McGill identifies this article as the originating publication for this Reminder. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/AI-Science Doomers and Anti-Science Doomers|AI-Science Doomers and Anti-Science Doomers]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Article:** [[articles/AI-Tech Doomerism and Anti-Science Panic|AI-Tech Doomerism and Anti-Science Panic]] - **Article:** [[articles/STFU About AI and Water and Just Eat Your Burger|STFU About AI and Water and Just Eat Your Burger]] - **Article:** [[articles/Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution|Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/AI-Science Doomers and Anti-Science Doomers|AI-Science Doomers and Anti-Science Doomers]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/AI-Science Doomers and Anti-Science Doomers|AI-Science Doomers and Anti-Science Doomers]] - [[wiki/Artificial Intelligence|Artificial Intelligence]] - [[wiki/AI Safety|AI Safety]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “You cannot honestly calculate the danger of AI while assigning a value of zero to the dangers AI may help civilization prevent. Pandemic detection, cyber defense, materials failure, energy optimization, biological discovery, asteroid science, medicine, logistics, and countless unknown problems belong on the other side of the ledger. Existential-risk arithmetic with only one column is theology, not mathematics.” — Bryant McGill, The End Is Near — AI Doom, Anti-Science Panic, and the Primates Who Sell Technological Exile, September 2026 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-bryant-mcgill-existential-risk-arithmetic-with-only-one-column-is-theology ```