36: 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/SMEfl5maB8k">YouTube</a>. Listen on <a target="_blank" href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/36-will-macaskill-longtermism-altruism-history-technology/id1516093381?i=1000575454628">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/55tpi2vHTYYuEOmgy6TmGE?si=Hr8xB4vNRayxl8pi38pd0Q">Spotify</a>, or any other podcast platform.<br/><br/>Subscribe to find out about future episodes!<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/>Please share if you enjoyed this episode! Helps out a ton!<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/>Transcript<br/><br/><strong>Dwarkesh Patel</strong> 0:06<br/><br/>Okay, today I have the pleasure of interviewing <a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_MacAskill">William McCaskill</a>. Will is one of the founders of th