Part 4/10:
Humans tend to underestimate the probability of existential risks owing to their rarity. On a day-to-day basis, we overestimate dangers like terrorism or mass shootings because they are visceral and immediate, even though statistically unlikely. Conversely, because cosmic or geological disasters have never happened in living memory, we often regard them as impossible—an assumption that can be dangerously wrong.
The History of Mass Extinction Events
Earth's history is punctuated by five major extinction events—catastrophic episodes where up to three-quarters of all species perished. While most are associated with asteroid impacts, four of these five events are believed to have been triggered by volcanic activity.