The Daily Stoic - Your Hunger For Money Is Starving You

Episode Date: November 7, 2018

William MacAskill is a fascinating guy. He is the youngest Associate Professor in Philosophy at the University of Oxford. He’s one of the founders of the Effective Altruism movement. He’s written a great book called Doing Good Better - Effective Altruism and a Radical New Way to Make a Difference and given a popular TED talk. Will also happens to donate every dollar he earns over $30,000 each year to charities of careful choosing. That was a commitment Will made to himself in 2009. He estimates that will be a lifetime sum well into the millions of dollars.In our interview with him for DailyStoic.com, we asked Will whether there are philosophical benefits to living so cheaply, in addition to the fact that it means he can use those savings to help other people. After all, the Stoics talk a great deal about being indifferent to wealth and the finer things in life for entirely selfish reasons--as in it makes your life better. Will’s response is great. I’m sympathetic to that Stoic idea. "Mo money mo problems" has some truth to it: the more things you possess, the more things there are to worry about, or feel sad about if they're damaged or lost. And they take attention away from the things that really are important to making your life go well — your relationships with friends, family, and romantic partners, finding work that you can excel in, staying fit and healthy. This isn't just my anecdotal experience either: there's a ton of evidence from the psychological literature that, above around $30,000 per year, additional income doesn't do much to increase happiness.Will certainly would agree with what Marcus Aurelius wrote, “The only wealth which you will keep forever is the wealth you have given away.” It’s not about getting more. It’s about getting enough and then helping others get there too. That’s our job, that’s the job of being a human being. Check out our full interview with Will, check out his book Doing Good Better - Effective Altruism and a Radical New Way to Make a Difference, and watch his TED talk. And see what changes you might be able to make in your life to help other people. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stoke podcast early and add free on Amazon music. Download the app today. Welcome to the Daily Stoke. For each day, we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living the good life. insight, wisdom necessary for living the good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at dailystowach.com. Your hunger for money is starving you. William McGaskill is a fascinating guy. He's the youngest associate professor in philosophy at the University of Oxford.

He's one of the founders of the Effective Altruism movement. He's written a great book called, Do-in-Good Better, Effective Altruism, and a radical new way to make a difference, and given a popular TED Talk. stock. Will also happens to donate every dollar he earns over $30,000 each year to charities of careful choosing. That was a commitment Will made to himself in 2009. He estimates that will be a lifetime sum well into the millions of dollars. In our interview with him for dailystalk.com this week, we asked Will whether there are philosophical benefits to living so cheaply. In addition to the fact that it means he can use those savings to help other people, after all the Stoics talk a great deal

about being indifferent to wealth and the finer things in life for entirely selfish reasons. As in they said it makes your life better. Will's response is great. I'm sympathetic to that stoic idea. Mo money, Mo problems has some truth to it. The more things you possess, the more things there are to worry about, or feel sad about their damage or lost, and they take attention away from the things that are really important to making your life go well. Your relationships with friends, family, and romantic partners, finding work that you can excel in, stay and fit, and healthy. This isn't just my anecdotal experience either. There's a ton of evidence from the psychological literature that above about

$30,000 per year, additional income, doesn't do much to increase happiness. Will would certainly agree with what Marcus Aurelius wrote, the only wealth which you will keep forever is the wealth you have given away. It's not about getting more, it's about getting enough and then helping others get there too. That's our job, that's the job of a human being. Check out our full interview with Will,

check out his book, Doing Good Better, Effective Altruism, and a radical new way to make a difference and watch his TED Talk, and see what changes you might make in your own life to help other people. Hey, Prime Members, you can listen to the Daily Stoic early and ad-free on Amazon Music, download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen early and ad-free with Wondery Plus in Apple Podcasts.