Elon Musk's useful philosopher - New Statesman
Silicon Valley billionaires have taken up the ideas of William MacAskill, the leading voice of longtermism. But they will not solve humanity’s problems.
William MacAskill, the philosopher of longtermism, is fashionable among some very wealthy figures. Photo by Matt Crockett When we look back at the past century, what are we to make of the people who came before us and the world they left us? We grow up knowing about wars and genocides, not to mention the challenges they created that we now face. But we also learn about the developments we should be proud of, such as the ongoing fight to expand people’s rights and freedoms. The 35-year-old Scottish philosopher William MacAskill, author of What We Owe the Future (2022), argues the next stage of
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