Rationally Speaking #226 - Rob Wiblin on "An updated view of the best ways to help humanity"

Rationally Speaking Podcast

New York City Skeptics

Society & Culture, Skepticism, Science, Philosophy

4.6 • 787 Ratings

🗓️ 5 February 2019

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

If you want to do as much good as possible with your career, what problems should you work on, and what jobs should you consider? This episode features Rob Wiblin, director of research for effective altruist organization 80,000 Hours, and the host of the 80,000 Hours podcast. Julia and Rob discuss how the career advice 80,000 Hours gives has changed over the years, and the biggest misconceptions about their views. Their conversation covers topics like: - Should everyone try to get a job in finance and donate their income? - The case for working to reduce global catastrophic risks - Why reducing risk is a better way to help the future than increasing economic growth - What percentage of the world should ideally follow 80,000 Hours advice?

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode of Rationally Speaking is brought to you by Stripe.
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0:10.9	to handling marketplace payments, to preventing fraud.
0:14.4	Stripe's culture puts a special emphasis on rigorous thinking and intellectual curiosity.
0:19.3	So if you enjoy podcasts like this one and you're
0:21.8	interested in what Stripe does, I'd recommend you check them out. They're always hiring.
0:25.8	Learn more at Stripe.com.
0:45.3	Welcome to Rationally Speaking, the podcast where we explore the borderlands between reason and nonsense.
0:50.0	I'm your host, Julia Gaeleth, and I'm here with today's guest, Rob Wiblin.
1:03.5	Rob is the director of research at 80,000 hours, which is a nonprofit that focuses on helping people figure out how to maximize the positive impact that they can have with their careers.
1:11.6	Before that, Rob was the executive director of the Center for Effective Altruism. And his background before that is in economics.
1:17.7	He's also the host of the excellent 80,000 hours podcast, which if you aren't already a fan of, I think you should really check out if you like rationally speaking.
1:21.9	So a lot of things Rob and I have to talk about.
1:25.5	But the thing that really piqued my interest to focus on today is a few years ago, I think back in 2014, I had Ben Todd, who's the president of 80,000 hours and one of the founders on the show.
1:40.0	And we talked about some of the logic behind 80,000 hours and effective altruism
1:45.1	and like some of the basics around how to pick a career to maximize your positive impact.
1:51.4	And, you know, it's been over four years since then.
1:53.9	And some of the thinking of 80,000 hours and the sort of surrounding effective altruist movement has evolved.
2:00.5	Some views have shifted. Other views have maybe clarified. There have been some, like, misunderstandings or misconceptions about what 80,000 hours and EA in general actually believes. And so I thought it would be really great to sort of sit down with Rob and have a review of the evolution of 80,000 hours and his thinking on how to affect the
2:19.9	world positively. So, Rob, that's what we're going to do today. Great to have you on the show.
2:23.6	Yeah, thanks so much for inviting me on. I've listened to the show for many years, and it's
	...

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