Will Marshall: I think of humanity like a teenager, like an adolescent. We've got our whole life in front of us, and yet we're being incredibly reckless. He says perhaps the most profound impact on his career path was an essay he read at age 18 by Peter Singer. "We may be in the adolescence of our species"
If the human race lasts as long as a typical mammalian species and our population continues at its current size, then there are 80 trillion people yet to come. Oxford philosophy professor William MacAskill says it's up to us to protect them.
In his bold new book, "What We Owe the Future," MacAskill makes a case for longtermism. He believes that how long we survive as a species may depend on the actions we take now.
---
To hear the Book Bite for "What We Owe the Future," download the Next Big Idea app at nextbigideaclub.com/app