The new Adam McKay movie is out on Netflix today and has a fairly plausible portrayal of what might happen in the event of an apocalyptic event. Here are eight things I think the movie gets right:
- Many (most?) scientists are bad communicators and are not very good at conveying danger in a way normal people can understand. (Some scenes reminded me of the discussion over presenting global warming temperatures in Farenheit so Americans can better appreciate the severity.)
- Government institutions move too slowly.
- Electoral politics are not conducive to tackling existential risks.
- Media incentives are not conducive to tackling existential risks.
- Everything can be politicised. (See here.)
- International cooperation is easier said than done.
- The UN always moves too slowly.
- It is psychologically easier to hope for the best than prepare for the worst.
I enjoyed the film, and thought Timothée Chalamet was particularly excellent. I would have liked it to spend more time on technocrat/bureaucrat failures due to their risk-aversion, which strikes me as being a very underrated risk and one that has killed many people in the pandemic (see here, here, and here).
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