FLI Podcast: The Psychology of Existential Risk and Effective Altruism with Stefan Schubert

We could all be more altruistic and effective in our service of others, but what exactly is it that's stopping us? What are the biases and cognitive failures that prevent us from properly acting in service of existential risks, statistically large numbers of people, and long-term future considerations? How can we become more effective altruists? Stefan Schubert, a researcher at University of Oxford's Social Behaviour and Ethics Lab, explores questions like these at the intersection of moral psychology and philosophy. This conversation explores the steps that researchers like Stefan are taking to better understand psychology in service of doing the most good we can.

Topics discussed include:

-The psychology of existential risk, longtermism, effective altruism, and speciesism

-Stefan's study "The Psychology of Existential Risks: Moral Judgements about Human Extinction"

-Various works and studies Stefan Schubert has co-authored in these spaces

-How this enables us to be more altruistic

You can find the page and transcript for this podcast here: https://futureoflife.org/2019/12/02/the-psychology-of-existential-risk-and-effective-altruism-with-stefan-schubert/

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

2:31 Stefan's academic and intellectual journey

5:20 How large is this field?

7:49 Why study the psychology of X-risk and EA?

16:54 What does a better understanding of psychology here enable?

21:10 What are the cognitive limitations psychology helps to elucidate?

23:12 Stefan's study "The Psychology of Existential Risks: Moral Judgements about Human Extinction"

34:45 Messaging on existential risk

37:30 Further areas of study

43:29 Speciesism

49:18 Further studies and work by Stefan