#612: Will MacAskill of Effective Altruism Fame — The Value of Longtermism, Tools for Beating Stress and Overwhelm, AI Scenarios, High-Impact Books, and How to Save the World and Be an Agent of Change

Will MacAskill of Effective Altruism Fame — The Value of Longtermism, Tools for Beating Stress and Overwhelm, AI Scenarios, High-Impact Books, and How to Save the World and Be an Agent of Change | Brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs recruitment platform with 800M+ users, Vuori comfortable and durable performance apparel, and Theragun percussive muscle therapy devices. More on all three below.

William MacAskill (@willmacaskill) is an associate professor in philosophy at the University of Oxford. At the time of his appointment, he was the youngest associate professor of philosophy in the world. A Forbes 30 Under 30 social entrepreneur, he also cofounded the nonprofits Giving What We Can, the Centre for Effective Altruism, and Y Combinator-backed 80,000 Hours, which together have moved over $200 million to effective charities. You can find my 2015 conversation with Will at tim.blog/will.

His new book is What We Owe the Future. It is blurbed by several guests of the podcast, including Sam Harris, who wrote, “No living philosopher has had a greater impact upon my ethics than Will MacAskill. . . . This is an altogether thrilling and necessary book.”

Please enjoy!

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[07:20] Recommended reading.

[13:26] How Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment changed Will’s life.

[18:12] Maintaining optimism in the age of doomscrolling.

[23:41] What is effective altruism?

[26:04] Resources for maximizing the impact of your philanthropy.

[27:45] How adopting a check-in system has most improved Will’s life.

[32:32] Caffeine limits.

[34:08] Effective back pain relief.

[41:18] What is longtermism, and why did Will write What We Owe the Future?

[43:44] Future generations matter.

[46:42] Finding the line between apathy and fatalism that spurs action toward ensuring there’s a future.

[52:23] What Will hopes readers take away from What We Owe the Future.

[55:56] What is value lock-in?

[1:01:38] Most concerning threats projected over the next 10 years.

[1:09:28] Most promising developments happening now.

[1:13:47] How Will refocuses during periods of overwhelm.

[1:18:48] Perils of AI considered plausible by the people who create it.

[1:30:42] Longtermist-minded resources and actions we can take now.

[1:36:29] Parting thoughts.

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