34: Will MacAskill - Longtermism, Altruism, History, & Technology

Will MacAskill is one of the founders of the Effective Altruist movement and the author of the upcoming book, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1541618629">What We Owe The Future</a>.<br/><br/>We talk about improving the future, risk of extinction & collapse, technological & moral change, problems of academia, who changes history, and much more.<br/><br/>Watch on <a target="_blank" href="https://youtu.be/5MTNXWBtYLM">YouTube</a>. Listen on <a target="_blank" href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/34-will-macaskill-longtermism-altruism-history-technology/id1516093381?i=1000571183590">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/0x5ZVKN3YmV9srxFRFmq1w?si=3DgQJJgdRRuCPYq89p7_Yw">Spotify</a>, or any other podcast platform.<br/><br/>Read the full transcript <a target="_blank" href="https://www.dwarkeshpatel.com/p/will-macaskill">here</a>.<br/><br/>Follow <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/willmacaskill">Will on Twitter</a>. Follow <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/dwarkesh_sp">me on Twitter</a> for updates on future episodes.<br/><br/>Timestamps<br/><br/>(00:23) -&#9;Effective Altruism and Western values<br/><br/>(07:47) -&#9;The contingency of technology<br/><br/>(12:02) -&#9;Who changes history?<br/><br/>(18:00) -&#9;Longtermist institutional reform<br/><br/>(25:56) -&#9;Are companies longtermist?<br/><br/>(28:57) -&#9;Living in an era of plasticity<br/><br/>(34:52) -&#9;How good can the future be?<br/><br/>(39:18) -&#9;Contra Tyler Cowen on what&#8217;s most important<br/><br/>(45:36) -&#9;AI and the centralization of power<br/><br/>(51:34) -&#9;The problems with academia <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://www.dwarkeshpatel.com?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_1">www.dwarkeshpatel.com</a>