52. Misuse of apocalyptic scenarios to draw attention and financing to projects

This is essentially a variant on the Scaramella scenario described earlier, but applied to projects. Obviously, using apocalyptic scenarios as a foil may draw attention and financing to certain projects. Nearly every project which is genuinely, authentically, and truthfully trying to mitigate some kind of global catastrophic risk has fallen under this accusation. It is important to realize that there are people who are really motivated by lowering global risk, however, and there are probably easier ways of striking it rich than using an apocalypse scare. This applies doubly so for those of a scientific bent, who will be surrounded by secular intellectuals who are innately very skeptical of apocalypse claims because they pattern-match to religious apocalypse claims.