Share

cover art for Kristian Rönn | The Darwinian Trap That Explains Our World

Foresight Institute Radio

Kristian Rönn | The Darwinian Trap That Explains Our World

Season 2, Ep. 29

Speaker

Kristian Rönn is the CEO and co-founder of Normative. He has a background in mathematics, philosophy, computer science and artificial intelligence. Before he started Normative he worked at the University of Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute on issues related to global catastrophic risks.


Session Summary

When people talk about today’s biggest challenges they tend to frame the conversation around “bad people” doing “bad things.” But is there more to the story?


In this month’s Hope Drop we speak to Kristian Rönn, an entrepreneur formerly affiliated with the Future of Humanity Institute. Kristian calls these deeply rooted impulses “Darwinian demons.” These forces, a by-product of natural selection, can lead us to act in shortsighted ways that harm others—and even imperil our survival as a species. In our latest episode, Kristian explains how we can escape these evolutionary traps through cooperation and innovative thinking. Kristian's new book, The Darwinian Trap, is being published on September 24th. Be sure to preorder it today!


Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts


Existential Hope was created to collect positive and possible scenarios for the future so that we can have more people commit to creating a brighter future, and to begin mapping out the main developments and challenges that need to be navigated to reach it. Existential Hope is a Foresight Institute project.


Hosted by Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers


Follow Us: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Existential Hope Instagram


Explore every word spoken on this podcast through Fathom.fm.

More episodes

View all episodes

  • Viren Jain | Connectomics and AI @ Vision Weekend USA 2025

    09:38|
    This talk was recorded live at Vision Weekend USA, held December 5–7, 2025 in the Bay Area. Vision Weekends are our flagship conference series, bringing together leading scientists, entrepreneurs, funders, and policymakers to explore frontier science and technology and to imagine paths toward flourishing futures.
  • Steve Jurvetson | Investing in AI Moonshots @ Vision Weekend USA 2025

    16:22|
    This talk was recorded live at Vision Weekend USA, held December 5–7, 2025 in the Bay Area. Vision Weekends are our flagship conference series, bringing together leading scientists, entrepreneurs, funders, and policymakers to explore frontier science and technology and to imagine paths toward flourishing futures.
  • Sonia Arrison | Lobbying for Longevity Progress @ Vision Weekend USA 2025

    14:46|
    This talk was recorded live at Vision Weekend USA, held December 5–7, 2025 in the Bay Area. Vision Weekends are our flagship conference series, bringing together leading scientists, entrepreneurs, funders, and policymakers to explore frontier science and technology and to imagine paths toward flourishing futures.
  • Richard Ngo | Identity & Meaning in SciFi Futures @ Vision Weekend USA 2025

    12:09|
    This talk was recorded live at Vision Weekend USA, held December 5–7, 2025 in the Bay Area. Vision Weekends are our flagship conference series, bringing together leading scientists, entrepreneurs, funders, and policymakers to explore frontier science and technology and to imagine paths toward flourishing futures.
  • Joshua Elliott | The Hail Mary Phase of Climate Change @ Vision Weekend USA 2025

    13:26|
    This talk was recorded live at Vision Weekend USA, held December 5–7, 2025 in the Bay Area. Vision Weekends are our flagship conference series, bringing together leading scientists, entrepreneurs, funders, and policymakers to explore frontier science and technology and to imagine paths toward flourishing futures.
  • John Hallman & Rico Meinl | Accelerating Life Sciences @ Vision Weekend USA 2025

    17:09|
    This talk was recorded live at Vision Weekend USA, held December 5–7, 2025 in the Bay Area. Vision Weekends are our flagship conference series, bringing together leading scientists, entrepreneurs, funders, and policymakers to explore frontier science and technology and to imagine paths toward flourishing futures.
  • Jesse Posner | Fiduciary AI: The New Architecture of Freedom @ Vision Weekend USA 2025

    15:15|
    This talk was recorded live at Vision Weekend USA, held December 5–7, 2025 in the Bay Area. Vision Weekends are our flagship conference series, bringing together leading scientists, entrepreneurs, funders, and policymakers to explore frontier science and technology and to imagine paths toward flourishing futures.
  • Haleh Fotowat | Harnessing Biological Intelligence for Building Living Machines with Nervous Systems

    09:55|
    This talk was recorded live at Vision Weekend USA, held December 5–7, 2025 in the Bay Area. Vision Weekends are our flagship conference series, bringing together leading scientists, entrepreneurs, funders, and policymakers to explore frontier science and technology and to imagine paths toward flourishing futures.
  • Eli Dourado | Thoughts on Philanthrocapitalism @ Vision Weekend USA 2025

    11:56|
    This talk was recorded live at Vision Weekend USA, held December 5–7, 2025 in the Bay Area. Vision Weekends are our flagship conference series, bringing together leading scientists, entrepreneurs, funders, and policymakers to explore frontier science and technology and to imagine paths toward flourishing futures.