What We Owe the Future

Buchzusammenfassung

William MacAskill is an associate professor in Philosophy at the University of Oxford as well as the co-founder of the charities Giving What We Can and 80,000. His organizations have been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, on NPR, TED and numerous other media outlets.

The Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet’s collision with Jupiter in 1994, which unleashed an Earth-sized scar and the energy of three hundred billion tons of TNT, served as a wake-up call about asteroid threats. This event spurred public interest, scientific focus, and congressional action, leading to NASA’s successful Spaceguard initiative, which identified over 98% of large near-Earth asteroids by 2008. This achievement highlights humanity’s capacity to address existential risks when taken seriously. However, modern threats like engineered pandemics pose even greater dangers. Man-made pathogens, combining high lethality and contagiousness, could spark catastrophic events, with experts estimating a 0.6% to 3% chance of such a pandemic this century. Recovery from such disasters could be hindered by depleted fossil fuel reserves, as renewable energy sources lack the durability and industrial capacity needed for rebuilding. To mitigate existential risks, individuals can focus on consistently beneficial actions, expand their options through strategic career choices, and commit to lifelong learning. Prioritizing high-impact issues like AGI, biotechnology, and climate change is crucial, as is taking effective action, whether through financial contributions, political activism, spreading ideas, or even having children to counter declining fertility rates and foster innovation. Ultimately, collective individual efforts can shape a better future for generations to come.

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