#10 - Nick Beckstead on how to spend billions of dollars preventing human extinction

#10 - Nick Beckstead on how to spend billions of dollars preventing human extinction

What if you were in a position to give away billions of dollars to improve the world? What would you do with it? This is the problem facing Program Officers at the Open Philanthropy Project - people like Dr Nick Beckstead.

Following a PhD in philosophy, Nick works to figure out where money can do the most good. He’s been involved in major grants in a wide range of areas, including ending factory farming through technological innovation, safeguarding the world from advances in biotechnology and artificial intelligence, and spreading rational compassion.

Full transcript, coaching application form, overview of the conversation, and links to resources discussed in the episode:

This episode is a tour through some of the toughest questions ‘effective altruists’ face when figuring out how to best improve the world, including:

* * Should we mostly try to help people currently alive, or future generations? Nick studied this question for years in his PhD thesis, On the Overwhelming Importance of Shaping the Far Future. (The first 31 minutes is a snappier version of my conversation with Toby Ord.)
* Is clean meat (aka *in vitro* meat) technologically feasible any time soon, or should we be looking for plant-based alternatives?
* What are the greatest risks to human civilisation?
* To stop malaria is it more cost-effective to use technology to eliminate mosquitos than to distribute bed nets?
* Should people who want to improve the future work for changes that will be very useful in a specific scenario, or just generally try to improve how well humanity makes decisions?
* What specific jobs should our listeners take in order for Nick to be able to spend more money in useful ways to improve the world?
* Should we expect the future to be better if the economy grows more quickly - or more slowly?

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We’ve helped dozens of people compare between their options, get introductions, and jobs important for the the long-run future. If you want to work on any of the problems discussed in this episode, find out if our coaching can help you.

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#32 - Bryan Caplan on whether his Case Against Education holds up, totalitarianism, & open borders

#32 - Bryan Caplan on whether his Case Against Education holds up, totalitarianism, & open borders

Bryan Caplan’s claim in *The Case Against Education* is striking: education doesn’t teach people much, we use little of what we learn, and college is mostly about trying to seem smarter than other peo...

22 Touko 20182h 25min

#31 - Allan Dafoe on defusing the political & economic risks posed by existing AI capabilities

#31 - Allan Dafoe on defusing the political & economic risks posed by existing AI capabilities

The debate around the impacts of artificial intelligence often centres on ‘superintelligence’ - a general intellect that is much smarter than the best humans, in practically every field. But according...

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#30 - Eva Vivalt on how little social science findings generalize from one study to another

#30 - Eva Vivalt on how little social science findings generalize from one study to another

If we have a study on the impact of a social program in a particular place and time, how confident can we be that we’ll get a similar result if we study the same program again somewhere else? Dr Eva V...

15 Touko 20182h 1min

#29 - Anders Sandberg on 3 new resolutions for the Fermi paradox & how to colonise the universe

#29 - Anders Sandberg on 3 new resolutions for the Fermi paradox & how to colonise the universe

Part 2 out now: #33 - Dr Anders Sandberg on what if we ended ageing, solar flares & the annual risk of nuclear war The universe is so vast, yet we don’t see any alien civilizations. If they exist, whe...

8 Touko 20181h 21min

#28 - Owen Cotton-Barratt on why scientists should need insurance, PhD strategy & fast AI progresses

#28 - Owen Cotton-Barratt on why scientists should need insurance, PhD strategy & fast AI progresses

A researcher is working on creating a new virus – one more dangerous than any that exist naturally. They believe they’re being as careful as possible. After all, if things go wrong, their own life and...

27 Huhti 20181h 3min

#27 - Dr Tom Inglesby on careers and policies that reduce global catastrophic biological risks

#27 - Dr Tom Inglesby on careers and policies that reduce global catastrophic biological risks

How about this for a movie idea: a main character has to prevent a new contagious strain of Ebola spreading around the world. She’s the best of the best. So good in fact, that her work on early detect...

18 Huhti 20182h 16min

#26 - Marie Gibbons on how exactly clean meat is made & what's needed to get it in every supermarket

#26 - Marie Gibbons on how exactly clean meat is made & what's needed to get it in every supermarket

First, decide on the type of animal. Next, pick the cell type. Then take a small, painless biopsy, and put the cells in a solution that makes them feel like they’re still in the body. Once the cells a...

10 Huhti 20181h 44min

#25 - Robin Hanson on why we have to lie to ourselves about why we do what we do

#25 - Robin Hanson on why we have to lie to ourselves about why we do what we do

On February 2, 1685, England’s King Charles II was struck by a sudden illness. Fortunately his physicians were the best of the best. To reassure the public they kept them abreast of the King’s treatme...

28 Maalis 20182h 39min

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