William MacAskill is the central figure of “Effective Altruism”. In his new book, he advocates not losing sight of the trillions of people who aren’t even born yet.
A young man named Sam showed an aptitude for mathematics. After studying physics, he wanted to work professionally for animal welfare. He was very interested in ethics. So he met William MacAskill, a 25-year-old Oxford graduate student in philosophy just a few years older than him, who over lunch advised him to trust less in his heart and more in his head. If he really wants to change the world for the better, MacAskill said, he should use his talent for numbers and earn a lot of money and then donate it: “earn to give”.