# Technology Can Make Civilizational Devastation the Default by Nick Bostrom > “If technological development continues then a set of capabilities will at some point be attained that make the devastation of civilization extremely likely, unless civilization sufficiently exits the semi-anarchic default condition [of limited preventive policing, limited global governance, and diverse motivations].” > **— Nick Bostrom**, *The Vulnerable World Hypothesis, 2019* ## Sources and Context - **Published source:** [The Vulnerable World Hypothesis, 2019](https://nickbostrom.com/papers/vulnerable.pdf) — direct or near-primary publication carrying the complete statement. - **Article placement:** [[articles/The Immediate AI Risk Is the Public|The Immediate AI Risk Is the Public]] supplies the interpretive placement and links the statement to public competence, AI danger, strategic acceleration and machine succession. - **Exact original excerpt:** “If technological development continues then a set of capabilities will at some point be attained that make the devastation of civilization extremely likely, unless civilization sufficiently exits the semi-anarchic default condition.” - **Editorial treatment:** The bracket supplies Bostrom's three-part definition from the same paper so the specialized term is intelligible on the poster. Square brackets identify editorial language; the exact unmodified wording remains above in this source record. - **Context:** This is Bostrom's formal Vulnerable World Hypothesis, recovered from the paper rather than manufactured from the article's three quoted definition fragments. The paper defines the semi-anarchic default condition through limited preventive policing, limited global governance and diverse motivations, while explicitly presenting the hypothesis as an open question rather than an established fact. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Immediate AI Risk Is the Public|The Immediate AI Risk Is the Public]] - **Companion article:** [[articles/Vertically Integrating an AI Superpower from AI Factory to Citizen|Vertically Integrating an AI Superpower from AI Factory to Citizen]] - **Companion article:** [[articles/Safety Discourse Is Transition Discourse|Safety Discourse Is Transition Discourse]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Nick Bostrom|Nick Bostrom]] - [[wiki/Existential Risk|Existential Risk]] - [[wiki/AI Capability Diffusion|AI Capability Diffusion]] - [[wiki/Proliferation|Proliferation]] - [[wiki/Threat Actor|Threat Actor]] - [[wiki/Dual-Use Technology|Dual-Use Technology]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “If technological development continues then a set of capabilities will at some point be attained that make the devastation of civilization extremely likely, unless civilization sufficiently exits the semi-anarchic default condition [of limited preventive policing, limited global governance, and diverse motivations].” — Nick Bostrom, The Vulnerable World Hypothesis, 2019 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-nick-bostrom-technology-civilizational-devastation-default ```