Is There a Way to Stop the Doomsayers?

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I think that the comparison to the kind of apocalyptic doomsayers is really important as well, right? And really draws out some of what the thinking is there. There's so much worrying shit both in the book and beyond the book that we could talk about. But our conversation has gone on for a while. We certainly could have talked about far more because there's so much to dig into on this topic. So my hope certainly is that people will understand that long-termism is not the same as long-term thinking"

Paris Marx is joined by Émile P. Torres to discuss the ongoing effort to sell effective altruism and longtermism to the public, and why they’re philosophies that won’t solve the real problems we face.

Émile P. Torres is a PhD candidate at Leibniz University Hannover and the author of the forthcoming book Human Extinction: A History of the Science and Ethics of Annihilation. Follow Émile on Twitter at @xriskology.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.

Also mentioned in this episode:

Émile recently wrote about the ongoing effort to sell longtermism and effective altruism to the public.
Peter Singer wrote an article published in 1972 arguing that rich people need to give to charity, which went on to influence effective altruists.
NYT recently opined on whether it’s ethical for lawyers to defend climate villains.
Nathan Robinson recently criticized effective altruism for Current Affairs.

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