
What We Owe the Future
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Narrated by:
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William MacAskill
About this listen
An Oxford philosopher makes the case for “longtermism”—that positively influencing the long-term future is a key moral priority of our time
The fate of the world is in our hands. Humanity’s written history spans only five thousand years. Our yet-unwritten future could last for millions more—or it could end tomorrow. Astonishing numbers of people could lead lives of great happiness or unimaginable suffering, or never live at all, depending on what we choose to do today.
In What We Owe The Future, philosopher William MacAskill argues for longtermism, that idea that positively influencing the distant future is a key moral priority of our time. From this perspective, it’s not enough to reverse climate change or avert the next pandemic. We must ensure that civilization would rebound if it collapsed, counter the end of moral progress, and prepare for a planet where the smartest beings are digital, not human.
If we put humanity’s course to right, our grandchildren’s grandchildren will thrive, knowing we did everything we could to give them a world full of justice, hope, and beauty.
©2022 William MacAskill (P)2022 Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...
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Performance
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Why do some people lead happy, successful lives whilst others face repeated failure and sadness? Why do some find their perfect partners whilst others stagger from one broken relationship to the next? What enables some people to have successful careers whilst others find themselves trapped in jobs they detest? And can unlucky people do anything to improve their luck - and lives?
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An interesting article expanded into a boring book
- By Euge on 03-07-21
By: Richard Wiseman
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Seeing What Others Don't
- The Remarkable Ways We Gain Insights
- By: Gary Klein
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
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Insights—like Darwin's understanding of the way evolution actually works, and Watson and Crick's breakthrough discoveries about the structure of DNA-can change the world. We also need insights into the everyday things that frustrate and confuse us so that we can more effectively solve problems and get things done. Yet we know very little about when, why, or how insights are formed—or what blocks them. In Seeing What Others Don't, renowned cognitive psychologist Gary Klein unravels the mystery.
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Not enough actionable ideas
- By Blair on 02-24-15
By: Gary Klein
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Origin Story
- A Big History of Everything
- By: David Christian
- Narrated by: Jamie Jackson
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Most historians study the smallest slivers of time, emphasizing specific dates, individuals, and documents. But what would it look like to study the whole of history, from the big bang through the present day - and even into the remote future? How would looking at the full span of time change the way we perceive the universe, the earth, and our very existence? These were the questions David Christian set out to answer when he created the field of "Big History", the most exciting new approach to understanding where we have been, where we are, and where we are going.
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A brilliant achievement, must read/listen
- By 11104 on 09-05-18
By: David Christian
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Enlightenment Now
- The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress
- By: Steven Pinker
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 19 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Is the world really falling apart? Is the ideal of progress obsolete? In this elegant assessment of the human condition in the third millennium, cognitive scientist and public intellectual Steven Pinker urges us to step back from the gory headlines and prophecies of doom, which play to our psychological biases. Instead, follow the data: Pinker shows that life, health, prosperity, safety, peace, knowledge, and happiness are on the rise, not just in the West but worldwide.
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We live in the best of all times
- By Neuron on 02-25-18
By: Steven Pinker
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Built to Last
- Successful Habits of Visionary Companies (Good to Great, Book 2)
- By: Jim Collins
- Narrated by: Jim Collins, Jerry I. Porras
- Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins
- Abridged
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Filled with hundreds of specific examples and organized into a coherent framework of practical concepts that can be applied by managers and entrepreneurs at all levels, Built to Last provides a master blueprint for building organizations that will prosper long into the 21st century and beyond.
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Worst audio book doesn’t even read the book
- By Bob on 07-20-20
By: Jim Collins
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Superintelligence
- Paths, Dangers, Strategies
- By: Nick Bostrom
- Narrated by: Napoleon Ryan
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Superintelligence asks the questions: What happens when machines surpass humans in general intelligence? Will artificial agents save or destroy us? Nick Bostrom lays the foundation for understanding the future of humanity and intelligent life. The human brain has some capabilities that the brains of other animals lack. It is to these distinctive capabilities that our species owes its dominant position. If machine brains surpassed human brains in general intelligence, then this new superintelligence could become extremely powerful - possibly beyond our control.
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Colossus: The Forbin Project is coming
- By Gary on 09-12-14
By: Nick Bostrom
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The Alignment Problem
- Machine Learning and Human Values
- By: Brian Christian
- Narrated by: Brian Christian
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Today's "machine-learning" systems, trained by data, are so effective that we've invited them to see and hear for us - and to make decisions on our behalf. But alarm bells are ringing. Systems cull résumés until, years later, we discover that they have inherent gender biases. Algorithms decide bail and parole - and appear to assess black and white defendants differently. We can no longer assume that our mortgage application, or even our medical tests, will be seen by human eyes. And autonomous vehicles on our streets can injure or kill.
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Required reading for any AI course
- By ehan ferguson on 11-16-20
By: Brian Christian
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Einstein
- His Life and Universe
- By: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 21 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Why we think it’s a great listen: You thought he was a stodgy scientist with funny hair, but Isaacson and Hermann reveal an eloquent, intense, and selfless human being who not only shaped science with his theories, but politics and world events in the 20th century as well. Based on the newly released personal letters of Albert Einstein, Walter Isaacson explores how an imaginative, impertinent patent clerk became the mind reader of the creator of the cosmos.
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Surprise: Two books in one!
- By Henrik on 04-20-07
By: Walter Isaacson
Interesting and mind broadening
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Amazing book
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Sometimes I think about my ancestors and all the struggles they overcame. Traveling by boat to America, starving in the famines. Great great grandmas having 12 kids (changing diapers for 25 YEARS). Great great great grandpas toiling in factories and courting ladies. Someone probably had a limb sawed off and kept living. Someone probably died giving birth.
I am thankful to these people. Even when life is hard these days, it’s still good to be alive. If you are thankful to those people you should at least contemplate what your descendants will think about you.
I found his accent slightly hard to understand, but the book is good.
Thinking in *future tense*
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Thank you so much William MacAskill for this book.
Thank you William MacAskill for this book.
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Though I am not sure why the author recorded the book in his own voice, it was one rhythm, a bit unclear sometimes. Could have hired a professional reader
Book is good, performance is not
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good
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Important and impactful…life changing - please read/listen
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you can have a large impact on humanity and the potentially massive amount of future generations, this book will help you with where to start.
Cons:
there were a few chapters that I found uninteresting, and not particularly necessary. I would've liked to see a little less doomerism and a little more practical application.
I found the narrators speaking cadence was annyoing, far to many pauses for my taste.
I also found one of his arguments concerning; he purposes that care of individual species should be based on neuron count. personally this reaks of eugenics.
A lovely grounding for anyone hoping to do good
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Looking thru the authors eyes
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A vital book
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