10.
Global risks receive less attention than small-scale risks
Consider
the risk of a nuclear explosion in Washington. This is specific, vivid, and has
received top-level attention from the United States government. Consider the
risk of the creation of a suite of powerful new superviruses.
This has received greatly less attention, though one risk only affects one
city, whereas the other could be terminal to the entire planet. The impact of
permanent termination of the human species is much greater than comparatively
small individual risks, and deserves correspondingly greater attention, even
though local risks may be more vivid.