What should we ask Rutger Bregman and Peter Singer about how they changed their minds?

Aidan Alexander; ThomNorman

What should we ask Rutger Bregman and Peter Singer about how they changed their minds?

Aidan Alexander,

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Joris 🔸

You can maybe pull from this AMA Peter Singer did on the Forum; there's some unanswered questions there

Judith Rensing

Very cool, looking forward to both of these, really exciting first guests! I'd love to know whether Peter's engagement with Buddhism has changed his mind on anything - especially but not only on the big question around mindfulness and meditation for and its benefits for the meditator vs external work for others (e.g. campaigning for animals) as they often seem in tension / conflict for time and resources and pursuing a deeper path of enlightenment may take away much of the spirit and fire for changing the world in a more consequentialist sense. It's talked about a bit in "The Buddhist and the Ethicist" but not as head-on as I was hoping

Aidan Alexander

Great idea!

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Context: We’re starting a podcast

Thom and I (co-founders of FarmKind, an effective giving platform for animals) are starting a podcast called “Changed My Mind”.

Our first two episodes will be with Rutger Bregman and Peter Singer. You can follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts here, and on Spotify here.

The premise of the podcast: "Changed My Mind" explores a powerful idea: changing your mind isn't a weakness – it's a superpower. Each episode features accomplished thinkers sharing pivotal moments when they changed their mind about something important. We explore the evidence that tipped the scales, the emotional journey, and how seeing the world from a new perspective impacted their lives. The podcast is not about FarmKind, EA or animal welfare.

The first episode will air on May 6th to align with Rutger's book release.

Rutger Bregman

You may know Rutger as the author of Utopia for Realists, Humankind, and the forthcoming Moral Ambition, which reads a lot like a case for devoting your life to Effective Altruism (albeit not by that name).

Areas we’re currently interested to explore with him:

Are humans fundamentally good, as he argues in HumanKind, and his journey from ‘veneer theory’ to this view

Whether he still believes society is progressing (as argued in Utopia for Realists) given current challenges around inequality, democratic backsliding, global governance and AI

How he handles evidence that challenges his proposed solutions (like UBI) and what he's changed his mind about

The core idea of "moral ambition" and how it differs from standard altruism

His vision for building a movement around moral ambition and what success looks like

What else would you want us to explore with Rutger? What questions do you have for him?

Peter Singer

I don’t think Peter needs any introduction around here!

We plan to ask Peter about how/why he’s changed his mind about:

The value of philosophical arguments in motivating action for animals

When it’s prudent to share controversial views

The potential to transform how people think about donating to charity

Moral demandingness

Population ethics

Different flavours of utilitarianism

Moral realism vs. anti-realism?

What else would you want us to ask Peter how/why he’s changed his mind about? What questions do you have for him?

Thanks for your input!