#36 William MacAskill: The Science of Doing Good

Did you get criticized for your approach to philanthropy? Yeah, sometimes. Um, more so than you might expect, given that we're really aiming just to be a bunch of people who are trying to improve the world and trying to figure out honestly um how we can do so as well as possible. Hello and welcome, I'm Shane Parish and this is the Knowledge Project.

This show explores ideas, methods, mental models, and frameworks that will help you expand your mind, live deliberately, and master the best of what other people have already figured out. You can learn more at fs.blog slash podcast. My guest today is William McAskill, co-founder and president of the Center for Effective Alterism. and associate professor in philosophy at Oxford University. In our wide ranging conversation we talk about injecting science into philanthropy, how we can identify effective charitable organizations, taxes, and so much more.

Enjoy the conversation. Talk in broad themes about some of the things that you've been studying and writing about. You've described what you do as injecting science into sentimental issue of doing good in the world. What does that mean? Why is it different from the way philanthropy has been done in the past? The approach we take is called effective altruism. It's As you say about trying to make

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