Hi Ajay,
Yes, it seems that our essay topics are relevant to one another!
I did, on pages 8 and 9, explain why I think AI and biological instability are crucial--- they both have the potential to render us extinct in the relatively near term. I expect that there are other crucial phenomena, but I don't have a "long laundry list"--- do you have any examples ready to hand?
I'm glad you liked the "game between Humanity and Nature", maybe I'll expand on that in a later piece of writing :)
While researcher interest is clearly important, I do think that a certain amount of societal resources should be devoted to phenomena that are crucial for the long-term future of humanity *whether or not* anyone finds them particularly interesting. This isn't to say that everyone has to work on these things, just that it would be good if enough people work on them for us to reap the considerable benefits. That said, I think that skills and resources are the relevant bottlenecks--- I do regularly encounter many people who are interested in i.e. biological instability or AI safety, if only they had the skills and resources to pursue them!
Thanks for your thoughtful comment,
Best,
Daniel