This week, we released How Much Does the Future Matter?, a conversation between Sam and philosopher William MacAskill, a prominent voice in the effective altruism movement. An important tenet of effective altruism is to focus on maximizing the good each of us can do in our lifetimes—and the lifetimes of generations to come—even if we can’t actually see the good we’re accomplishing firsthand.

In You Are Living the Dream Life, William B. Irvine offers us a way to connect more directly to the plight of those many of us won't encounter regularly, if at all. His “trans-life meditation” asks us to contemplate everyone who might view our own lives to be the dream life—especially those living in extreme poverty. Engaging in this reflection, he says, can “dramatically change [our] outlook” and help guide us to become more generous with our time and resources.

From the Waking Up community

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—JONTHEPIRATE, APPLE REVIEW

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