# Intelligence Determines How Long Civilizations Survive by Yuri Milner > “The list of existential threats to humanity includes climate change, nuclear war, pandemics, asteroid collisions and perhaps AI. And all of these can be avoided. Some can be addressed here on Earth. Others require activity in space, but with the ultimate aim of protecting the planet.” > **— Yuri Milner**, *2017, Edge Annual Question, “What Scientific Term Or Concept Ought To Be More Widely Known?”* ## Sources and Context - **Direct Edge response and surrounding essay:** [The Longevity Factor](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/27228) — Edge published this exact passage in its 2017 Annual Question collection, *WHAT SCIENTIFIC TERM OR CONCEPT OUGHT TO BE MORE WIDELY KNOWN?*. The response page preserves the surrounding argument and qualifications. - **Complete local collection index:** [[research/Edge 2017 Full Quotation Curation|Edge 2017 Full Quotation Curation]] — retained source-first record for the complete response cohort and this passage's promotion status. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Collection:** [[collections/MARS|MARS]] - **Article:** [[articles/We Were Never Going to Make It|Never Going to Make It!]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Last Migration Will Not Be Human|The Last Migration]] - **Article:** [[articles/Christopher Nolan's Odyssey at the Threshold of Machine Succession|Nolan's Odyssey]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Species-Level Maturation|Species-Level Maturation]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Species-Level Maturation|Species-Level Maturation]] - [[wiki/Superintelligence Cradle Theory|Superintelligence Cradle Theory]] - [[wiki/Machine Learning|Machine Learning]] - [[wiki/Infrastructural Superintelligence|Infrastructural Superintelligence]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “The list of existential threats to humanity includes climate change, nuclear war, pandemics, asteroid collisions and perhaps AI. And all of these can be avoided. Some can be addressed here on Earth. Others require activity in space, but with the ultimate aim of protecting the planet.” — Yuri Milner, 2017, Edge Annual Question, “What Scientific Term Or Concept Ought To Be More Widely Known?” https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-yuri-milner-intelligence-determines-long-civilizations-survive ```