Yong-Bee Lim
@yblim.bsky.social
Personal Account - Just an Asian nerd who's a bit unfurled, living in a geopolitically hot world.
Interests include addressing bio risks, building talent pipelines to address complex, converging risks, and brewing rice wine and making dumplings.
Interests include addressing bio risks, building talent pipelines to address complex, converging risks, and brewing rice wine and making dumplings.
There is a strength to the assumption as it galvanizes activities (especially when used by State actors concerning non-state activities).
However, I assert there is value in looking at the upstream actions that may drive people towards unconventional weapons like BW.
However, I assert there is value in looking at the upstream actions that may drive people towards unconventional weapons like BW.
February 26, 2025 at 2:02 PM
There is a strength to the assumption as it galvanizes activities (especially when used by State actors concerning non-state activities).
However, I assert there is value in looking at the upstream actions that may drive people towards unconventional weapons like BW.
However, I assert there is value in looking at the upstream actions that may drive people towards unconventional weapons like BW.
This gets into the classic BW questions (that are also basic to journalism - who, what where, when, why, and how, right? This is an area we have still not answered very well.
And I know for some, foundational having an assumption of "bad actors" is a great way to avoid this question.
And I know for some, foundational having an assumption of "bad actors" is a great way to avoid this question.
February 26, 2025 at 2:01 PM
This gets into the classic BW questions (that are also basic to journalism - who, what where, when, why, and how, right? This is an area we have still not answered very well.
And I know for some, foundational having an assumption of "bad actors" is a great way to avoid this question.
And I know for some, foundational having an assumption of "bad actors" is a great way to avoid this question.
So I want to make sure, as we forecast future possible scenarios of the catastrophic type, we ground them in the reality that we live in.
February 26, 2025 at 1:59 PM
So I want to make sure, as we forecast future possible scenarios of the catastrophic type, we ground them in the reality that we live in.
Many policy discussions often tend to gloss over the difficulties and complexities of biology. Manipulated cells want to revert to their original state. Replication in the life sciences is terrible. And we still do not have the granularity we need on many biological systems.
February 26, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Many policy discussions often tend to gloss over the difficulties and complexities of biology. Manipulated cells want to revert to their original state. Replication in the life sciences is terrible. And we still do not have the granularity we need on many biological systems.
I love the flexibility of thinking you are showing here - to try and account for multiple scenarios. The thing I would also insert here is the gap that exists between the potential realities of worst-case scenarios (the tech is very advanced, etc.) with the very real limits of biology currently.
February 26, 2025 at 1:57 PM
I love the flexibility of thinking you are showing here - to try and account for multiple scenarios. The thing I would also insert here is the gap that exists between the potential realities of worst-case scenarios (the tech is very advanced, etc.) with the very real limits of biology currently.
Agree, and we should be leveraging the very tools that disrupt to address risk. For me, the question is about prioritization and interests - my hope is that as we all see some of the complex things emerging at the tech/government/society nexus, that risk mitigation is not synonymous with no risk.
February 26, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Agree, and we should be leveraging the very tools that disrupt to address risk. For me, the question is about prioritization and interests - my hope is that as we all see some of the complex things emerging at the tech/government/society nexus, that risk mitigation is not synonymous with no risk.
One caveat - assessments are foundational towards setting priorities and affect things like office, bureau, and agency budget lines. But I would also say that this is the reason why these conversations are also important to have - we owe it to our disciplines and society to do our due diligence.
February 26, 2025 at 1:48 PM
One caveat - assessments are foundational towards setting priorities and affect things like office, bureau, and agency budget lines. But I would also say that this is the reason why these conversations are also important to have - we owe it to our disciplines and society to do our due diligence.
I really appreciate this take - we do deal in the "low-probability, high-consequence" space.
On probability, I know assessments and other ways to quantify some of these aspects. I assert that assessments should be starting points for further conversation, rather than endpoints in and of themselves.
On probability, I know assessments and other ways to quantify some of these aspects. I assert that assessments should be starting points for further conversation, rather than endpoints in and of themselves.
February 26, 2025 at 1:44 PM
I really appreciate this take - we do deal in the "low-probability, high-consequence" space.
On probability, I know assessments and other ways to quantify some of these aspects. I assert that assessments should be starting points for further conversation, rather than endpoints in and of themselves.
On probability, I know assessments and other ways to quantify some of these aspects. I assert that assessments should be starting points for further conversation, rather than endpoints in and of themselves.
A general thing I notice is that if people keep insisting on doing something despite very good reasons not to...that says a lot more about the people doing it than the people trying to rein in the behavior.
February 25, 2025 at 3:21 PM
A general thing I notice is that if people keep insisting on doing something despite very good reasons not to...that says a lot more about the people doing it than the people trying to rein in the behavior.