Will MacAskill - Longtermism, Effective Altruism, History, & Technology

Dwarkesh Patel · Beginner ·🧠 Large Language Models ·3y ago
Will MacAskill is one of the founders of the Effective Altruist movement and the author of the upcoming book, What We Owe The Future. We talk about improving the future, risk of extinction & collapse, technological & moral change, problems of academia, who changes history, and much more. Read Transcript: https://www.dwarkeshpatel.com/p/will-macaskill Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3PCccVo Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3PONbpq But What We Owe The Future: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1541618629 Follow Will: https://twitter.com/willmacaskill Follow me: https://twitter.com/dwarkesh_sp TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Intro 01:18 Effective Altruism and Western values 08:42 The contingency of technology 12:57 Who changes history? 18:55 Longtermist institutional reform 26:51 Are companies longtermist? 29:52 Living in an era of plasticity 35:47 How good can the future be? 40:13 Contra Tyler Cowen on what’s most important 46:31 AI and the centralization of power 52:29 The problems with academia
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Chapters (11)

Intro
1:18 Effective Altruism and Western values
8:42 The contingency of technology
12:57 Who changes history?
18:55 Longtermist institutional reform
26:51 Are companies longtermist?
29:52 Living in an era of plasticity
35:47 How good can the future be?
40:13 Contra Tyler Cowen on what’s most important
46:31 AI and the centralization of power
52:29 The problems with academia
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