#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
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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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For show notes and past guests
on The Tim Ferriss Show,
please
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Past guests on The Tim Ferriss
Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh
Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin
Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew
McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth
Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah
Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine
Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary
Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael
Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold
Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria
Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de
Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly
Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard
Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael
Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan
Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit
Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim
Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval
Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth
Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard
Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid
Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick
Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, and many
more.


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