The Fable of the Dragon-Tyrant [by Nick Bostrom]

Socrates /

Posted on: April 5, 2013 / Last Modified: April 5, 2013

dragon-tyrant-fableThe Fable of the Dragon-Tyrant is a 10 minute animated adaptation of Nick Bostom’s philosophical parable about death.

The story recounts the tale of a vicious dragon, with ever-growing appetite, who started with tens and, eventually, went on consuming hundreds of thousands of people every day.

The fable recounts the enormous human suffering and economic toll that the dragon-tyrant was exacting on humanity and the countless heroes who perished trying to sleigh it. Eventually people concluded that the dragon was invincible and came up with numerous justifications and teachings that we all ought to embrace the dragon as an inevitability. So, when a sage old man proposed that technology would eventually make it possible to build a contraption that could kill the dragon-tyrant, most experts not only dismissed it as a possibility but also as a worthy goal altogether:

“Getting rid of the dragon would deflect us from realizing the aspirations to which our lives naturally point. I tell you – the nature of the dragon is to eat humans. And our own nature is truly and nobly fulfilled only by being eaten by it.”

You can see the video below to find out what happens next or go and read Professor Bostrom’s original text here.

 

Browse More

Conversations with the Future - Generic: No Speakers (1920 x 1080 px) - 2

Conversations with the Future Symposium

AI_Matters_Character_and_Culture_Matter_More

AI Matters. Character and Culture Matter More!

The Problem with NFTs preview

The Problem with NFTs [Video]

Micro-Moments of Perceived Rejection

Micro-Moments of Perceived Rejection: How to Navigate the (near) Future of Events

COVID19

Challenges for the Next 100 Days of the COVID19 Pandemic

Nikola Danaylov on 2030 preview

Nikola Danaylov on 2030 Beyond the Film: We Need Ethics and Commitment, Not Transhumanism

Michael Greger on Pandemics

Pandemics: History & Prevention

The Switch by James W. Clement preview

The Switch: How to Ignite Your Metabolism with Intermittent Fasting, Protein Cycling and Keto