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Will MacAskill 11/22/15

Will MacAskill 11/22/15
28 year old associate professor of philosophy at Oxford. Pledged to donate anything he makes over 36 K per year to charity. Y combinator.
Co-founder of effective altruism movement.
  • What makes his brand of altruism effective? A scientific approach to doing good. Use science, not just the coolest gimmick.
  • Biggest giving mistake – not doing your research.
  • Disaster relief is important, but as an individual you don’t need to give to them – refocus on the efforts not getting all of the media.
  • Progress – find someone smarter than you and learn from them.
  • His PhD approach – write about something that very little is written about. Zero to one.
  • His dissertation – how to decide in uncertainty.
  • Derek Parfit – favorite philosopher. Reasonand persons book. Number two – Peter singer.
  • TF – is wearing a fancy suit while children are starting in the world the same ethical issue as not helping a starving child?
    • Give to make a difference, even if you still want to keep your nice suit.
  • Pascals mugging – reducio ad absurdum of Pascals Wager. If there is a chance of any extraordinary reward, you should take the bet.
  • Givewell.org
  • How do you convince people to give through pure self interest? People tend to feel happier when donating.
  • Images of starving children in charities are poor use of media. Sell the benefits to the giver, not the disrespectful view of the third world.
  • Used Y Combinator to raise grants, instead of just investments.
  • Favorite startups – Wave (enable money seeding to smaller countries much cheaper than western union),
  • Is lack of financial incentive a demotivator ? WM – giving most of his money away is a bigger motivator, because he knows the higher income has a real impact on the world.
  • Becoming a higher earner gives you more power to do good. Just leaving school to join a non-profit doesn’t maximize your ability to do good. Get in the habit of donating a large part of your salary early, and work to grow your salary.
  • Following your passion can be a mistake – it’s terrible advice. Most people are passionate about fields that are incredibly hard to get into – art, music, sports.
    • The biggest predictor of job satisfaction is mentally engaging work, not chasing an obscure passion. And exercise a skill that you developed.
    • Out of uni, think like an experimental journalist: what are the things I’m actually good at? And experiment with different jobs to find out.
    • People’s preferences and passions change.
    • Turning a passion into a profession is one of the most disenchanting experiences.
  • TF “the dangerous myth of the dream job”
    • People overestimate the persistence of their enthusiasm in that switch of elective hobby to work.
  • Book – Mindfulness by Mark Williams.
  • Mindfulness is a magic bullet that teaches you that your emotions are like propaganda. You don’t fight it because it will devour you. You accept that it exists and don’t let it sway you.
  • Mindfulness is the scientific magic bullet to a better quality life.
  • Works out every morning, first thing.
  • Book – The Power of Persuasion – persuading people shouldn’t devolve to becoming sleezy.
  • First 60-90 mins
    • first sleep enough for your body. Get up and go right away.
    • Sleep less to produce more is a “false economy”
    • Favorite exercise – Jacob’s ladder. Prefers low impact exercises on the back.
  • TF for lower back pain:
    • Gravity boots or inversion tables.
    • Lynx lower back stretcher.
    • Walking more important than standing desk.
    • Overhead squats with good form and mobility.
  • Evenings – take an hour or two off before bed, don’t work until you fall asleep.
  • Documentary – louis thero – makes you question your own beliefs.
  • TF – book – chimpanzee politics
  • We need to focus on greater than human AI.
    • And have a sensible approach ahead of time, to prevent the new nuclear arms race.
  • Existential threat to humanity – development of new pathogens, and the unknown.
  • Advice to your 20 year old self – how to optimize for macro decisions in your future.
  • Thinking process for a big life decision –
    • 80000 hours website (.org)
    • Build a process for big decisions.
  • Effectivealtruism.org