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 (#612)
Illustration via 99designs“I often think to myself, ‘Could I justify my life now to my 15-year-old self?’ And if the answer is no, then I’m a bit like, ‘Oh, what are you doing? You’re not living up to what earlier Will would’ve wanted for present Will.'”
— Will MacAskill
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!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. You can watch the interview on YouTube here.
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Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercast#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 ChangeThis episode is brought to you by Vuori clothing! Vuori is a new and fresh perspective on performance apparel, perfect if you are sick and tired of traditional, old workout gear. Everything is designed for maximum comfort and versatility so that you look and feel as good in everyday life as you do working out.
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Want to hear the first time Will MacAskill was on this podcast? Have a listen to my 2015 interview with Will MacAskill here, in which we discuss how to take a scientific approach to doing good, charity spending for the poorest of the poor versus investing in future generations, the perils of pursuing your passion, underrated existential threats, life decision frameworks, and much more.
#120: Will MacAskill on Effective Altruism, Y Combinator, and Artificial IntelligenceWhat was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Will MacAskill: What We Owe the Future by Will MacAskill | Amazon You can get 50% off pre-ordering What We Owe The Future with the code FERRISS50 at this link: https://bookshop.org/books/what-we-owe-the-future/9781541618626Maximise Your Charitable Impact | Giving What We CanCombining Empathy with Evidence | Centre For Effective Altruism80,000 HoursTeeter Hang Ups Gravity Boots | AmazonPractical Ethics by Peter Singer | AmazonSuperintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies by Nick Bostrom | AmazonThe Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity by Toby Ord | AmazonThe Secret of Our Success: How Culture Is Driving Human Evolution, Domesticating Our Species, and Making Us Smarter by Joe Henrich | AmazonThe WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous by Joe Henrich | AmazonRichard Dawkins on the Internet’s Hijacking of the Word ‘Meme’ | Wired UKCrime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky | AmazonExistentialism | Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyWhat Is Nihilism? | Verywell MindWhat is Q.E.D. (Quod Erat Demonstrandum)? | Carneades.orgPascal’s Wager about God | Internet Encyclopedia of PhilosophyPascal’s Mugging | LessWrongEffective Altruism Is About Doing Good Better | Effective AltruismAgainst Malaria FoundationImproving Animal Welfare | Giving What We CanWhy Cage-Free Eggs Becoming Norm: It’s What People Want | ABC NewsBeneficial Artificial Intelligence | Giving What We CanBiosecurity and Pandemic Preparedness | Giving What We CanDr. Vivek Murthy — Former Surgeon General on Combating COVID-19, Loneliness, and More | The Tim Ferriss Show #417Charity Research | GiveWellThe Easiest, Most Effective Way to Donate | Effective Altruism Funds‘E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial’: The Real Reason Why Steven Spielberg’s Alien Eats Reese’s Pieces | Showbiz Cheat SheetHow Much Caffeine is Too Much? | Cleveland ClinicTeeter EZ-Up Gravity Boots | AmazonBOSU Balance Trailer | AmazonSeven Benefits of Doing Squats and Variations to Try | HealthlineHow to Goblet Squat | Men’s HealthSquatting and Culture: A Comparative Analysis of Informal Developments in Latin America and the Middle East | Habitat International12 Plank Exercises That Will Fire Up Your Entire Core and Make Your Workout Way More Fun | SELFKid ‘n Play Dance Scene | House PartyPso-Rite Psoas Muscle Release and Deep Tissue Massage Tool | AmazonLongtermism: An Introduction | Effective AltruismDemocracy vs. Totalitarianism: A Suggestive Approach | iPleadersTimeline of the Human Condition | C. Patrick DoncasterMy Twelve Rules for Life by Russ Roberts | MediumEverybody Worships: David Foster Wallace on Real Freedom and the Skeleton of Every Great Story | MockingbirdWhat Are the Four Noble Truths? | Lion’s RoarWhat Has Posterity Ever Done for Us? | Quote InvestigatorChildren of Men | Prime VideoWhy Getting the Big Picture Roughly Right Is More Important Than Focusing on Details | Stockholm Resilience CentreHow Close Are We to World War III? | BU TodayValue Lock-In | Effective Altruism ForumHundred Schools of Thought | WikipediaThe Development of Confucianism in Ancient China | Constitutional Rights FoundationHànyŭ Pīnyīn | WikipediaDeath Of A Nation: The Khmer Rouge’s Cambodia | Rare EarthAct of Uniformity 1662 | UK ParliamentWhat Are The Most Pressing Dangers Of AI? | One Hundred Year Study on Artificial Intelligence, Stanford UniversityAlphaGo | DeepMindDoes Pornography Still Drive The Internet? | BBC NewsDALL·E 2 | OpenAIFighting Deepfakes When Detection Fails | Brookings InstitutionFar-UVC Light Inactivates Pathogens Like Coronaviruses | ChristieLet’s Build A Flourishing Future | Future FundWhat are Trigger-Action Plans (TAPs)? | LessWrong18 Braw Scottish Words & Their Meanings | VisitScotlandDr. Jane Goodall — The Legend, The Lessons, The Hope | The Tim Ferriss Show #421Industrialization and Imperialism | Khan AcademyMohism | Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyTrebuchet | WikipediaHow to Throw an Atlatl | Live Free or Die: DIYBald Eagle Sends Government Drone Into Lake Michigan | The New York TimesOur Pledge | Giving What We CanLong-Term Future Fund | Effective Altruism FundsThe Effective Altruism Community’s Annual Conference | EA GlobalEAGx | EA GlobalIn Our Time | BBC Radio 4The 80,000 Hours Podcast with Rob WiblinHear This IdeaRationally Speaking PodcastOur World in DataSHOW NOTES[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.MORE GUEST QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW“I often think to myself, ‘Could I justify my life now to my 15-year-old self?’ And if the answer is no, then I’m a bit like, ‘Oh, what are you doing? You’re not living up to what earlier Will would’ve wanted for present Will.'”
— Will MacAskill
“I give away most of my income, which is a very unusual thing to do. And you might think, oh, that’s a sacrifice that’s making my life worse, but actually I find it kind of empowering because I am making an autonomous decision. I am not merely following the dictates of what social convention is telling me to do, but I’m reasoning about things from first principles and then making a decision that’s genuinely, authentically mine.”
— Will MacAskill
“In the last podcast, we talked a lot about global health and development and what’s the difference you can make? Well, if you are a middle-class member of a rich country, it’s on the order of saving dozens, hundreds, maybe even thousands of lives over the course of your life, if you put your mind to it. That’s huge. Now, we’re talking about existential risks and the long-term future of humanity. What’s the difference you can make? You can play a part in being pivotal in putting humanity onto a better trajectory for, not just centuries, but for thousands, millions, or even billions of years.”
— Will MacAskill
“The amount of good that you can do is truly enormous. You can have cosmic significance, and that’s pretty inspiring.”
— Will MacAskill
“When you think about the difference you can make rather than just focusing on the magnitude of the problems, I think there’s every reason for optimism.”
— Will MacAskill
“Even just the progress we’ve made over the last few hundred years, people today have far, far better lives. If you extrapolate that out just a few hundred years more, let alone thousands of years, then there’s at least a good chance that we could have a future where everyone lives, not just as well as the best people alive today, but maybe tens, hundreds, thousands of times better.”
— Will MacAskill
“One thing I think that a lot of people find motivating is this thought that you’re part of this grand project, much, much grander than yourself, of trying to build a good and flourishing society over the course of not just centuries, but thousands of years, and that’s one way in which our lives have meaning.”
— Will MacAskill
“We face truly enormous challenges in our life. Many of these challenges are very scary. They can be overwhelming. They can be intimidating. But I really believe that each of us individually can make an enormous difference to these problems. We really can significantly help as part of a wider community to putting humanity onto a better path. And if we do, then the future really could be long and absolutely flourishing. And your great-great-grandkids will thank you.”
— Will MacAskill
