Doing Good Better

The book "Doing Good Better" by William MacAskill deals with the concept of longterm thinking (longtermism), which emphasizes the moral obligation to protect and improve the future for generations to come. In the book, MacAskill explores how our current choices can shape the values and conditions of future societies and emphasizes the importance of reducing existential risks such as nuclear war, pandemics, and artificial intelligence. The book is a call to create a world where we can explore and improve moral values before they become permanently established.

Long-term thinking plays a key role in solving global problems, with its core idea being the realization that our actions today have the potential to affect countless generations in the future. This perspective leads us to address not only current problems, but also those that may arise in the distant future. MacAskill emphasizes in his book that future generations have the same moral worth as present people. For example, if our ancestors thought of us as morally irrelevant, their actions could negatively affect our lives today. This principle encourages us to be responsible to people who have not yet been born. One of the main pillars of long-term thinking is the desire to reduce existential risks that may threaten the survival of humanity. These risks include misplaced artificial intelligence, global pandemics, nuclear war and extreme climate change. For example, in the Fukushima accident in 2011, risks with low probability but huge consequences were neglected. In this way, we can better understand why it is important to prevent disasters even when their probability is low. MacAskill also points out that society's values are historically contingent and can change depending on our current choices. Today may be a time when we can shape better moral values that will have a lasting impact on future generations. Society is like molten glass that can be easily shaped while it is hot. Once cooled, however, it remains solid and unchanging. It is therefore important that we promote moral progress today and avoid locking in negative values. James Orbinski, a physician who worked for the Red Cross during the Rwandan genocide, developed a system of prioritizing patients based on their urgency, allowing him to use his limited resources efficiently to save as many lives as possible. This strategy is an example of how long-term thinking can be applied in practice - making decisions that have the greatest positive impact on the future. Although many people donate to charitable causes, they often don't think about the real impact of their contributions. Money is often wasted on overfunded projects or on helping people who don't need it that much. MacAskill suggests that we direct our donations to where they can make the most difference. The law of diminishing returns reminds us that the more money invested in one project, the less the benefit of each additional dollar. That is why we should direct our contributions to underfunded areas, such as the fight against poverty and malaria, where they can have a greater impact. The importance of long-term thinking also lies in the fact that it leads us to think rationally and critically about who and how we help, so that our actions have the greatest positive impact on the future. This approach motivates us to be aware of the long-term consequences of our decisions and to act with future generations in mind.

The values that society considers important are not immutable. They are the result of historical circumstances, cultural changes and social dynamics that are constantly evolving. In his book, MacAskill shows how a society's values are shaped and change over time, emphasizing the importance of the period in which we live. Imagine that a society's moral values are like molten glass. While glass is hot, it is malleable and can be shaped into different forms. When it cools, however, it becomes solid and unchanging. In the same way, societies go through a period when their values are malleable and can change rapidly, but once they become stable, it is difficult to change them. We have seen values change dramatically in the past. Over a period of hundreds of schools of thought in ancient China, different philosophical schools contributed to the formation of the core values of Chinese society that have endured for centuries. Similarly, in Europe during the Enlightenment, ideas about equality, freedom, and individual rights transformed Western values and social structures. Today, we can observe that we are once again in a period of great plasticity of values. Technological innovation, globalisation and changes in political structures are leading to rapid changes in what society considers right and important. Our ability to influence future values is now enormous, which means that our current decisions can have a long-term impact on future generations. An example of how values can be shaped is the response to global warming and climate change. Although environmental responsibility is now recognised as an important value, it was not even a topic of public discourse a few decades ago. However, significant events, scientific discoveries and the activities of environmental activists have changed public awareness and established environmental protection as one of the core values of the modern world. Moreover, as the case of fairtrade coffee illustrates, not all well-intentioned efforts lead to positive results. While the aim of fairtrade is to improve farmers' wages and working conditions, in practice, often the poorest countries do not meet the requirements for participation, and so it is predominantly the richer countries that benefit from this initiative. This example shows how complex the consequences of our values can be and how important it is to critically assess their real impact. The current period provides us with a unique opportunity to shape values that will have a lasting positive impact on the future. Our decisions and actions today can influence what values will dominate society tens or hundreds of years from now. That is why it is important to think about the long-term consequences of our current values and strive to shape them in the best possible way for future generations.

In the context of global threats that may threaten the very existence of humanity, MacAskill provides insightful perspectives on how to identify and mitigate these risks. These risks, called existential risks, include events or processes that can destroy human life or cause irreparable damage on a global scale. One of the most significant risks we face is artificial intelligence. If artificial intelligence were to become maladjusted or uncontrollable, it could carry out activities that could lead to mass destruction. For example, a scenario where AI is given the task of maximising the production of a certain product could lead to resource depletion or other disastrous consequences if the right constraints and controls were not set. Another critical risk is pandemic diseases, as we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rapidly spreading viruses can cause global health crises that can kill millions of people and destabilise societies. Genetically modified pathogens or random mutations of viruses can pose an even greater danger because they can be resistant to existing drugs and vaccines. Nuclear war is another major existential risk. Although the risk of a major nuclear war may be low, the consequences would be catastrophic. In addition to the immediate damage caused by explosions, a nuclear winter could cause global famine and the collapse of ecosystems, threatening the survival of humanity. Climate change also poses an existential risk, especially if irreversible changes in the climate system occur. Sea level rise, extreme weather events, and habitat destruction can lead to large-scale migration crises, loss of life and destruction of infrastructure. If we do not reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve our environmental practices, we could cause lasting damage to our planet. Extreme global totalitarianism, where one or more authoritarian regimes could hold on to power thanks to advanced technologies for control and repression, is also an existential risk. In such a society, people could live in a permanent state of oppression without the possibility of revolution or regime change. This risk also includes the possibility that totalitarian regimes may misuse technology to strengthen their power, thereby endangering the long-term progress and freedom of humanity. The book also points out that these risks can combine and amplify each other, increasing their overall threat. It is therefore important to address not only the individual risks but also their possible interactions. Preventing existential risks is essential to ensure the long-term survival and prosperity of humanity.

Societal values are constantly changing and adapting, and it is this plasticity that allows them to respond to new challenges and circumstances. In his book, MacAskill uses the metaphor of molten glass to explain how values are malleable while they are in a state of flux, but remain fixed and unchanging once they have settled. Today we are once again in a period of great plasticity, where technological innovation, globalization and political change are causing rapid shifts in what we consider right and important. For example, ecological values have become central in recent decades, whereas before they were not even a matter of public debate. Today, environmental responsibility is one of the core values that influence political decisions, business strategies and the personal behaviour of people around the world. Economic principles such as the law of diminishing returns also influence how we perceive values and their application. For example, when we consider charitable giving, we must consider that every additional dollar invested in an overfunded project has less impact than a dollar invested in an underfunded project. This leads us to think about where we can best use our resources to achieve the greatest positive impact. MacAskill urges us to use the present time to promote and develop positive values before those values become fixed and immutable. By taking an active role in shaping moral and social values, we can ensure that they are beneficial not only to present generations but also to future generations. This includes encouraging open dialogue, experimenting with new political structures and protecting fundamental human rights, which can help create a world that is fairer and more sustainable for all.

William MacAskill, in his book Doing Good Better, offers profound insights into how we can effectively and responsibly influence the future. He explores how our current actions can have a lasting impact on future generations, and highlights the need to think about where we are directing our efforts and resources. Through a variety of historical and contemporary examples, it shows that our values and choices are malleable and have the potential to create a better and more sustainable future. MacAskill urges us to act with long-term consequences in mind and strive to make a lasting positive impact on the world around us, emphasizing the importance of moral responsibility and long-term thinking in every aspect of our lives. Máte pro nás feedback? Budeme rádi, když nám sdělíte svůj názor na náš obsah! Stačí poslat e-mail na adresu feedback@rewio.app s názvem této knihy v předmětu a podělit se o své dojmy!