The Tim Ferriss Show Transcripts Episode 120: William Macaskill Show Notes and Links at Tim.Blog/Podcast
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Effective Altruism William Macaskill and Theron Pummer
1 Effective Altruism William MacAskill and Theron Pummer Climate change is on course to cause millions of deaths and cost the world economy trillions of dollars. Nearly a billion people live in extreme poverty, millions of them dying each year of easily preventable diseases. Just a small fraction of the thousands of nuclear weapons on hair‐trigger alert could easily bring about global catastrophe. New technologies like synthetic biology and artificial intelligence bring unprece dented risks. Meanwhile, year after year billions and billions of factory‐farmed ani mals live and die in misery. Given the number of severe problems facing the world today, and the resources required to solve them, we may feel at a loss as to where to even begin. The good news is that we can improve things with the right use of money, time, talent, and effort. These resources can bring about a great deal of improvement, or very little, depending on how they are allocated. The effective altruism movement consists of a growing global community of peo ple who use reason and evidence to assess how to do as much good as possible, and who take action on this basis. Launched in 2011, the movement now has thousands of members, as well as influence over billions of dollars. The movement has substan tially increased awareness of the fact that some altruistic activities are much more cost‐effective than others, in the sense that they do much more good than others per unit of resource expended. According to the nonprofit organization GiveWell, it costs around $3,500 to prevent someone from dying of malaria by distributing bed nets. -
Whether and Where to Give1 (Forthcoming in Philosophy and Public Affairs)
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by St Andrews Research Repository 1 Whether and Where to Give1 (Forthcoming in Philosophy and Public Affairs) Theron Pummer University of St Andrews 1. The Ethics of Giving and Effective Altruism The ethics of giving has traditionally focused on whether, and how much, to give to charities helping people in extreme poverty.2 In more recent years, the discussion has increasingly focused on where to give, spurred by an appreciation of the substantial differences in cost- effectiveness between charities. According to a commonly cited example, $40,000 can be used either to help 1 blind person by training a seeing-eye dog in the United States or to help 2,000 blind people by providing surgeries reversing the effects of trachoma in Africa.3 Effective altruists recommend that we give large sums to charity, but by far their more central message is that we give effectively, i.e., to whatever charities would do the most good per dollar donated.4 In this paper, I’ll assume that it’s not wrong not to give bigger, but will explore to what extent it may well nonetheless be wrong not to give better. The main claim I’ll argue for here is that in many cases it would be wrong of you to give a sum of money to charities that do less good than others you could have given to instead, even if 1 I am extremely grateful to Derek Parfit, Roger Crisp, Jeff McMahan, and Peter Singer for extremely helpful feedback and encouragement. -
By William Macaskill
Published on June 20, 2016 Brother, can you spare an RCT? ‘Doing Good Better’ by William MacAskill By Terence Wood If you’ve ever thought carefully about international development you will be tormented by shoulds. Should the Australian government really give aid rather Link: https://devpolicy.org/brother-can-spare-util-good-better-william-macaskill-20160620/ Page 1 of 5 Date downloaded: September 30, 2021 Published on June 20, 2016 than focus on domestic poverty? Should I donate more money personally? And if so, what sort of NGO should I give to? The good news is that William MacAskill is here to help. MacAskill is an associate professor in philosophy at the University of Oxford, and in Doing Good Better he wants to teach you to be an Effective Altruist. Effective Altruism is an attempt to take a form ofconsequentialism (a philosophical viewpoint in which an action is deemed right or wrong on the basis of its consequences) and plant it squarely amidst the decisions of our daily lives. MacAskill’s target audience isn’t limited to people involved in international development, but almost everything he says is relevant. Effective Altruists contend we should devote as much time and as many resources as we reasonably can to help those in greater need. They also want us to avoid actions that cause, or will cause, suffering. Taken together, this means promoting vegetarianism, (probably) taking action on climate change, and–of most interest to readers of this blog–giving a lot of aid. That’s the altruism. As for effectiveness, MacAskill argues that when we give we need to focus on addressing the most acute needs, while carefully choosing what works best. -
Against 'Effective Altruism'
Against ‘Effective Altruism’ Alice Crary Effective Altruism (EA) is a programme for rationalising for the most part adopt the attitude that they have no charitable giving, positioning individuals to do the ‘most serious critics and that sceptics ought to be content with good’ per expenditure of money or time. It was first for- their ongoing attempts to fine-tune their practice. mulated – by two Oxford philosophers just over a decade It is a posture belied by the existence of formidable ago–as an application of the moral theory consequential- critical resources both inside and outside the philosoph- ism, and from the outset one of its distinctions within ical tradition in which EA originates. In light of the undis- the philanthropic world was expansion of the class of puted impact of EA, and its success in attracting idealistic charity-recipients to include non-human animals. EA young people, it is important to forcefully make the case has been the target of a fair bit of grumbling, and even that it owes its success primarily not to the – question- some mockery, from activists and critics on the left, who able – value of its moral theory but to its compatibility associate consequentialism with depoliticising tenden- with political and economic institutions responsible for cies of welfarism. But EA has mostly gotten a pass, with some of the very harms it addresses. The sincere ded- many detractors concluding that, however misguided, its ication of many individual adherents notwithstanding, efforts to get bankers, tech entrepreneurs and the like to reflection on EA reveals a straightforward example of give away their money cost-effectively does no serious moral corruption. -
194 William Macaskill. Doing Good Better: How Effective Altruism Can Help You Help Others, Do Work That Matters, and Make Smarte
Philosophy in Review XXXIX (November 2019), no. 4 William MacAskill. Doing Good Better: How Effective Altruism Can Help You Help Others, Do Work that Matters, and Make Smarter Choices About Giving Back. Avery 2016. 272 pp. $17.00 USD (Paperback ISBN 9781592409662). Will MacAskill’s Doing Good Better provides an introduction to the Effective Altruism movement, and, in the process, it makes a strong case for its importance. The book is aimed at a general audience. It is fairly short and written for the most part in a light, conversational tone. Doing Good Better’s only real rival as a treatment of Effective Altruism is Peter Singer’s The Most Good You Can Do, though MacAskill’s and Singer’s books are better seen as companion pieces than rivals. Like The Most Good You Can Do, Doing Good Better offers the reader much of philosophical interest, and it delivers novel perspectives and even some counterintuitive but well-reasoned conclusions that will likely provoke both critics and defenders of Effective Altruism for some time to come. Before diving into Doing Good Better we want to take a moment to characterize Effective Altruism. Crudely put, Effective Altruists are committed to three claims. First, they maintain that we have strong reason to help others. Second, they claim that these reasons are impartial in nature. And, third, they hold that we are required to act on these reasons in the most effective manner possible. Hence, according to Effective Altruists, those of us who are fortunate enough to have the leisure to write (or read) scholarly book reviews (1) should help those who are most in need, (2) should do so even if we lack any personal connection to them, and (3) should do so as efficiently as we can. -
Why Maximize Expected Choice-Worthiness?1 WILLIAM MACASKILL and TOBY ORD University of Oxford
NOUSˆ 00:00 (2018) 1–27 doi: 10.1111/nous.12264 Why Maximize Expected Choice-Worthiness?1 WILLIAM MACASKILL AND TOBY ORD University of Oxford This paper argues in favor of a particular account of decision-making under nor- mative uncertainty: that, when it is possible to do so, one should maximize expected choice-worthiness. Though this position has been often suggested in the literature and is often taken to be the ‘default’ view, it has so far received little in the way of positive argument in its favor. After dealing with some preliminaries and giving the basic motivation for taking normative uncertainty into account in our decision- making, we consider and provide new arguments against two rival accounts that have been offered—the accounts that we call ‘My Favorite Theory’ and ‘My Fa- vorite Option’. We then give a novel argument for comparativism—the view that, under normative uncertainty, one should take into account both probabilities of different theories and magnitudes of choice-worthiness. Finally, we further argue in favor of maximizing expected choice-worthiness and consider and respond to five objections. Introduction Normative uncertainty is a fact of life. Suppose that Michael has £20 to spend. With that money, he could eat out at a nice restaurant. Alternatively, he could eat at home and pay for four long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets that would protect eight children against malaria. Let’s suppose that Michael knows all the morally relevant empirical facts about what that £20 could do. Even so, it might be that he still doesn’t know whether he’s obligated to donate that money or whether it’s permissible for him to pay for the meal out, because he just doesn’t know how strong his moral obligations to distant strangers are. -
The Definition of Effective Altruism
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 19/08/19, SPi 1 The Definition of Effective Altruism William MacAskill There are many problems in the world today. Over 750 million people live on less than $1.90 per day (at purchasing power parity).1 Around 6 million children die each year of easily preventable causes such as malaria, diarrhea, or pneumonia.2 Climate change is set to wreak environmental havoc and cost the economy tril- lions of dollars.3 A third of women worldwide have suffered from sexual or other physical violence in their lives.4 More than 3,000 nuclear warheads are in high-alert ready-to-launch status around the globe.5 Bacteria are becoming antibiotic- resistant.6 Partisanship is increasing, and democracy may be in decline.7 Given that the world has so many problems, and that these problems are so severe, surely we have a responsibility to do something about them. But what? There are countless problems that we could be addressing, and many different ways of addressing each of those problems. Moreover, our resources are scarce, so as individuals and even as a globe we can’t solve all these problems at once. So we must make decisions about how to allocate the resources we have. But on what basis should we make such decisions? The effective altruism movement has pioneered one approach. Those in this movement try to figure out, of all the different uses of our resources, which uses will do the most good, impartially considered. This movement is gathering con- siderable steam. There are now thousands of people around the world who have chosen -
Generous U Grant Application
Generous U Grant Application Ajeya Cotra Jake Straus Kimberly Huynh Madeleine Nemchek Matthew Borchardt Rohin Shah March 11, 2016 EFFECTIVE ALTRUISTS OF BERKELEY GENEROUS UAPPLICATION Background Information Effective Altruists of Berkeley (EAB) is a registered student organization at the University of California, Berkeley, whose mission is to empower students to give more and give smarter. We represent a diverse worldwide community of thousands of effective altruists who strive to combine rationality and empiricism with a broad and deep sense of compassion. Details about our club can be found below: EA Berkeley Contact Matthew Borchardt: Group Advisor Deepak Sharma: Website http://eab.berkeley.edu Student Org Listing https://callink.berkeley.edu/organization/EAB Through outreach, discussions, and a student-led course, we educate UC Berkeley students on the principles of high-impact giving. Our teaching guides students on a path of increasing commit- ment, culminating in a lifetime giving pledge. Our present budget of approximately per semester, or per year, drives our multi-level outreach, education, and pledge drive efforts. We would leverage the Generous U grant both to continue our present activities for another year and to try new methods to increase our reach and boost pledge-taking rates. Who We Serve Research so far indicates our donations can make a much bigger difference abroad, often giving beneficiaries huge health and income benefits that we take for granted in the developed world.1 For example, one of our supported charities is the DeWorm the World Initiative, which advocates and provides technical assistance to school-based deworming programs in Kenya and India. -
Unprecedented Technological Risks
Policy Brief: Unprecedented Technological Risks Future of Humanit y Institute UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD Unprecedented Technological Risks Over the next few decades, the continued development of dual-use technologies will provide major benefits to society. They will also pose significant and unprecedented global risks, including risks of new weapons of mass destruction, arms races, or the accidental deaths of billions of people. Synthetic biology, if more widely accessible, would give terrorist groups the ability to synthesise pathogens more dangerous than smallpox; geoengineering technologies would give single countries the power to dramatically alter the earth’s climate; distributed manufacturing could lead to nuclear proliferation on a much wider scale; and rapid advances in artificial intelligence could give a single country a decisive strategic advantage. These scenarios might seem extreme or outlandish. But they are widely recognised as significant risks by experts in the relevant fields. To safely navigate these risks, and harness the potentially great benefits of these new technologies, we must proactively provide research, assessment, monitoring, and guidance, on a global level. This report gives an overview of these risks and their importance, focusing on risks of extreme catastrophe, which we believe to be particularly neglected. The report explains why market and political circumstances have led to a deficit of regulation on these issues, and offers some policy proposals as starting points for how these risks could be addressed. September 2014 1 Policy Brief: Unprecedented Technological Risks Executive Summary The development of nuclear weapons was, at the than nuclear weapons, because they are more time, an unprecedented technological risk. The difficult to control. -
Rationality Spring 2020, Tues & Thurs 1:30-2:45 Harvard University
General Education 1066: Rationality Spring 2020, Tues & Thurs 1:30-2:45 Harvard University Description: The nature, psychology, and applications of rationality. Rationality is, or ought to be, the basis of everything we think and do. Yet in an era with unprecedented scientific sophistication, we are buffeted by fake news, quack cures, conspiracy theories, and “post-truth” rhetoric. How should we reason about reason? Rationality has long been a foundational topic in the academy, including philosophy, psychology, AI, economics, mathematics, and government. Recently, discoveries on how people reason have earned three Nobel Prizes, and many applied fields are being revolutionized by rational, evidence-based, and effective approaches. Part I: The nature of rationality. Tools of reason, including logic, statistical decision theory, Bayesian inference, rational choice, game theory, critical thinking, and common fallacies. Part II: The cognitive science of rationality, including classic research by psychologists and behavioral economists. Is Homo sapiens a “rational animal”? Could our irrational heuristics and biases be evolutionary adaptations to a natural information environment? Could beliefs that are factually irrational be socially rational in a drive for individual status or tribal solidarity? Can people be cured of their irrationality? Part III: Rationality in the world. How can our opinions, policies, and practices be made more rational? Can rational analyses offer more effective means of improving the world? Examples will include journalism, climate change, sports, crime, government, medicine, political protest, social change, philanthropy, and other forms of effective altruism. These topics will be presented by guest lecturers, many of them well-known authors and public figures. For the capstone project, students will select a major national or global problem, justify the choice, and lay out the most rational means to mitigate or solve it. -
Beneficial AI 2017
Beneficial AI 2017 Participants & Attendees 1 Anthony Aguirre is a Professor of Physics at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He has worked on a wide variety of topics in theoretical cosmology and fundamental physics, including inflation, black holes, quantum theory, and information theory. He also has strong interest in science outreach, and has appeared in numerous science documentaries. He is a co-founder of the Future of Life Institute, the Foundational Questions Institute, and Metaculus (http://www.metaculus.com/). Sam Altman is president of Y Combinator and was the cofounder of Loopt, a location-based social networking app. He also co-founded OpenAI with Elon Musk. Sam has invested in over 1,000 companies. Dario Amodei is the co-author of the recent paper Concrete Problems in AI Safety, which outlines a pragmatic and empirical approach to making AI systems safe. Dario is currently a research scientist at OpenAI, and prior to that worked at Google and Baidu. Dario also helped to lead the project that developed Deep Speech 2, which was named one of 10 “Breakthrough Technologies of 2016” by MIT Technology Review. Dario holds a PhD in physics from Princeton University, where he was awarded the Hertz Foundation doctoral thesis prize. Amara Angelica is Research Director for Ray Kurzweil, responsible for books, charts, and special projects. Amara’s background is in aerospace engineering, in electronic warfare, electronic intelligence, human factors, and computer systems analysis areas. A co-founder and initial Academic Model/Curriculum Lead for Singularity University, she was formerly on the board of directors of the National Space Society, is a member of the Space Development Steering Committee, and is a professional member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). -
F.3. the NEW POLITICS of ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE [Preliminary Notes]
F.3. THE NEW POLITICS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE [preliminary notes] MAIN MEMO pp 3-14 I. Introduction II. The Infrastructure: 13 key AI organizations III. Timeline: 2005-present IV. Key Leadership V. Open Letters VI. Media Coverage VII. Interests and Strategies VIII. Books and Other Media IX. Public Opinion X. Funders and Funding of AI Advocacy XI. The AI Advocacy Movement and the Techno-Eugenics Movement XII. The Socio-Cultural-Psychological Dimension XIII. Push-Back on the Feasibility of AI+ Superintelligence XIV. Provisional Concluding Comments ATTACHMENTS pp 15-78 ADDENDA pp 79-85 APPENDICES [not included in this pdf] ENDNOTES pp 86-88 REFERENCES pp 89-92 Richard Hayes July 2018 DRAFT: NOT FOR CIRCULATION OR CITATION F.3-1 ATTACHMENTS A. Definitions, usage, brief history and comments. B. Capsule information on the 13 key AI organizations. C. Concerns raised by key sets of the 13 AI organizations. D. Current development of AI by the mainstream tech industry E. Op-Ed: Transcending Complacency on Superintelligent Machines - 19 Apr 2014. F. Agenda for the invitational “Beneficial AI” conference - San Juan, Puerto Rico, Jan 2-5, 2015. G. An Open Letter on Maximizing the Societal Benefits of AI – 11 Jan 2015. H. Partnership on Artificial Intelligence to Benefit People and Society (PAI) – roster of partners. I. Influential mainstream policy-oriented initiatives on AI: Stanford (2016); White House (2016); AI NOW (2017). J. Agenda for the “Beneficial AI 2017” conference, Asilomar, CA, Jan 2-8, 2017. K. Participants at the 2015 and 2017 AI strategy conferences in Puerto Rico and Asilomar. L. Notes on participants at the Asilomar “Beneficial AI 2017” meeting.