Earning to Give: A Conversation with Sam Bankman-Fried

In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Sam Bankman-Fried about effective altruism. They discuss how he became the wealthiest self-made billionaire under 30, what might go wrong with cryptocurrency, the Giving What We Can pledge, how SBF thinks about using his resources to do the most good in the world, how not to stigmatize wealth, wealth redistribution, norms of generosity among the ultra-wealthy, pandemic preparedness, impact through lobbying, how ambitious should we be in doing good, and other topics.
Sam Bankman-Fried is the founder and CEO of FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange. He is also the CEO of Alameda Research, a quantitative cryptocurrency trading firm. Forbes has described him as "the richest person in crypto" and "one of the richest people under 30 in history." What is more remarkable is that he set out to make this money for the purpose of giving almost all of it away to the most effective charities, and to thereby do as much good in the world as he can. He was an early adopter of the Giving What We Can Pledge, and he is now one of the more prominent people in the effective altruist community. Sam is the son of two Stanford law professors, and he received a degree in physics from MIT.
Released: December 24, 2021
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[@marcagray]

Hoping for a part 2 of this from SBF jail cell.

[@Renenko]

Coming soon!

[@Our_Patterns]

@@Renenkolol

[@ricksanchez1393]

Well he did indeed give away his fortune.

[@Locationary]

Lmfao

[@BIZEB]

Came back just for this comment.

[@UncriticalRaceTheory]

😂😂

[@WestCoastGeoLover]

Snorting my morning cup of tea out of my nose with a sudden burst of laughter after reading this comments mid sip

[@razadaza9651]

To alamaeda haha

[@mattboylan7318]

This aged well

[@merlepatterson]

Indeed

[@WestCoastGeoLover]

Can't stop laughing at these comments. The "jump" from physics to financing...Clue #1.

[@marcopanti1017]

🤣

[@luvbeans405]

Like milk 🥴

[@DestroManiak]

My favorite comedy podcast.

[@DarthLesbian]

@Amir Abas What nonsense

[@apocalypsepow]

@Amir Abas everyone does not make billion dollar mistakes mfker, this isn't like leaving your cell phone at a bar.

[@dickmcwienersonIII]

His show is still very enlightening. He made me a much better person.

[@DestroManiak]

@@dickmcwienersonIII can you let me dunk on sam for something that wasnt his fault, in peace?

[@KrwiomoczBogurodzicy]

“Is your soul not poverty and filth and wretched self-complacency?” - Nietzsche, _Thus Spoke Zarathustra_ [translated by Thomas Common] “Oh, that soul was itself meagre, ghastly, and famished; and cruelty was the delight of that soul!” - Nietzsche, _Thus Spoke Zarathustra_ [translated by Thomas Common] #Schadenfreude #WickedJoy #SeedsOfCruelty “For man is the cruellest animal. At tragedies, bull-fights, and crucifixions hath he hitherto been happiest on earth; and when he invented his hell, behold, that was his heaven on earth. When the great man crieth -: immediately runneth the little man thither, and his tongue hangeth out of his mouth for very lusting. He, however, calleth it his ‘pity’.” - Nietzsche, _Thus Spoke Zarathustra_ [translated by Thomas Common]

[@micahlarimer155]

Came back months after listening to comment on how well this podcast has aged ;).

[@RM-jb2bv]

Props to Sam for keeping this interview up.

[@medialistener]

But platforming Trump is bad.

[@AC-cg6op]

@@medialistener Indeed, just as platforming SBF would be bad now that everyone knows who he really is.

[@ramdas363]

@@AC-cg6op Many in the crypto space already knew there's something not right with the guy. Many warned about him, he outright described the tokens his company was trading as ponzis in one interview. He was anti decentralization, donated millions to politicians in Washington, had meetings with SEC chief Gary Gensler (the content of we still don't know about because they were private) and Maxine Waters is on camera literally blowing him a kiss! All this while the SEC investigated legitimate companies like Coinbase but nobody ever even looked at FTX's books. It's not like there weren't warning signs. It's just that the corrupt people he was close to are mostly Democratic good guys™and not evil orange people so nobody cared. Would you agree there is some bias in how we liberal folks make judgements in these cases? Also the entire Effective Altruism movement has been sus from the start and many have criticized them for years. You only had to look through their public forums a bit to see the cult-like atmosphere. I've noticed that whenever I warned people about them it was dismissed because people thought they're doing good and giving to charity can't be harmful, right? It's easy to trick some people by just telling them nice sounding stuff. As for Sam, he's either naive or knowingly promoted a fraud just because the guy told him he's making the world a better place. Some food for thought, what other charlatans are people falling for?

[@ramdas363]

BTW, the most farcical part is the Bitcoin logo Sam chose as a background for this. Even when SBF hadn't been exposed as a fraudster yet, everything he did was the antithetical to the Bitcoin ethos. Bitcoin is about giving control back to the people, he ran a custodial exchange (where we later learned he stole from them too). Bitcoin is about decentralization and he lobbied for more centralization, likely hoping that if he were the first and best connected in Washington, his company would have an advantage and come out on top. Bitcoin is about fixed supply and SBF promoted inflationary tokens aka shitcoins because of course he was making money promoting those (and likely manipulating the price too).

[@darinpearson2554]

Even after this, Sam still characterizes Trump University as worse.

[@bernardofitzpatrick5403]

Trump “university”. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@nicholashanson9508]

FTX could have the corpses of dead children in the basement and Trump university would still be worse

[@wordragon]

Sam shows once again that you can have the equivalent of corpses of dead children in your basement, but as long as you share his politics, you are worth “platforming”. It is good Sam is an atheist because he keeps showing everyone he is soulless.

[@dickmcwienersonIII]

@@wordragon did anyone see this coming? honestly can you point me to someone predicting this?

[@stevewillis1916]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 kids in the basement

[@bradlebowitz9730]

Well Mr. Fried has done it. He has had massive impact.

[@derperder9405]

LOL 🤣

[@Changingtheworld4693]

My lovely daughter passed due to an embolism in 2019. Her legacy was kindness and giving. At one stage she was unemployed and I gave her an allowance. Her fiance reports that she never passed a beggar without giving what she could. He asked her why she did this. She said, `I still have more than they have.' I miss this angel so very much. She has taught me so much.

[@carloslope159]

Sounds like she was a wonderful human being. May you find solace.

[@Changingtheworld4693]

@@carloslope159 Thank you

[@apocalypsepow]

Sam should of interviewed her instead.

[@NotKimiRaikkonen]

Interview starts at 11:47

[@brisingr12]

Sam speaks so slow even at 1.5x

[@Adilthepickle]

Thank you

[@n.miller907]

Never have I heard a man like Sam Fried who says so many words and conveys so little.

[@MW-xi5go]

He evidently conveyed even less than you thought.... :)

[@brisingr12]

Kudos for having a better sense and bs detector than Sam Harris !

[@piercesmith1465]

That's why he's a perfect Democrat!

[@n.miller907]

@@piercesmith1465 Oh like the Republicans are any different? Sorry, but it's the domain of ALL POLITICIANS to be full of hot air.

[@thewakakeboarder]

Update on your analysis on this guy? Miller?

[@isletoflangerhans8281]

Before listening, not sure if this is an interview a man named Sam Bankman-Fried, or if it's an interview with Sam Bankman, while fried.

[@serbryndenshiversthecool5928]

I'd eat fried bankers. eat the rich

[@kenadams5504]

I was thinking the same thing

[@danmadefurniture]

why not have both

[@MrSonny208]

Hahahahahhaa

[@cdavidlake2]

Turned out to be rather ineffective altruism.

[@jps0117]

Hahaha.

[@petermuller6359]

Now that didn't age well... Sam Harris 10 months later in Episode #303: "I had no reason to suspect he was doing anything shady."

[@WestCoastGeoLover]

Smh

[@dickmcwienersonIII]

is it just the old if something is too good to be true or are there actually any signs in this interview?

[@yehheapsmadaybut]

I mean why would Sam Harris have any reason?

[@exigy.]

aged like milk

[@samuelkirz]

This is very sad in retrospect. Sam interviewed modern Madoff only worse. Madoff screwed over investors. SBF stole money from everyday people.

[@yehheapsmadaybut]

Surprised he hasn't attracted the title "millennial Madoff"

[@SlashspitGaming]

This discussion really solidifies to me Sam as this new woke religion leader. A millionaire talking to a billionaire about the feeling of giving - gimme a break. Cryptocurrency mining is one of the harshest climate killers on the planet. This is like a stock broker who became an oil magnate talking about 'giving his entire fortune away' (somewhere down the road). Meanwhile, they just need to change the system we all live in. 10% is even the same amount as a tithe ---its just remarkable how its just a new religion.

[@Jaylade]

I agree with you about the absurdity about the new religion but the banking industry which is the most wasteful and destructive industry there is. Much more wasteful than crypto. But bc you can calculate the emmissions of bitcoin exactly, and you cant calculate the emmissions of banking directly, ppl think bitcoin is worse for the environment than banking

[@CGW129]

Not sure what you mean by "woke," but I think that Sam is married to the concept of billionaires and other classes of "betters" being the only solution to all of our problems. It's naïve, and a product of his own upbringing in a wealthy family.

[@ninettam8372]

@Aaron Stivers well done for seeing though this s..t ahead of time. I worked for the UN and left because most of it (at least development) is a fraud. When this podcats was released and I came across it I cringed. I wonder if S. Harris is just naive or worse...

[@reinforcedpenisstem]

Most regular people feel like they have had too much already taken from them to give so freely.

[@anab0lic]

indeed, only a small % of the population under capitalism (which has resulted in a small minority owning all the wealth/power) have an excess of time and money that allows them to give in a meaningful way.

[@TheTrevelyansway]

Oh hush Maduro.

[@toby9999]

@@anab0lic And even less under communision or socialism where the wealthy are the rulers and the rest are poor. At least capitalism generates wealth.

[@TWRehab]

@@anab0lic Unequally wealthy under capitalism or equally poor under socialism. The net better for charity is capitalism.

[@anab0lic]

@@toby9999 You have a very primitive understanding of socialism.

[@ghy518]

Much of his public image is centered around him being so altruistic and utilitarian yet he hasn't really donated much of his wealth at all... Only 1% of FTX revenue goes to "charities" according to Wikipedia

[@brisingr12]

Kudos! you got better sense than the great philosipher Sam Harris!

[@Ever23last]

Yes question 1-10 should be how much have you given.

[@travismccormick2233]

40 mil to Democrat politicians

[@yehheapsmadaybut]

@@travismccormick2233 the same to Republicans

[@Matthew-rz3io]

@@yehheapsmadaybut None went to the Republicans

[@DebateCentrals]

Billionaires need to give almost all their wealth away, but we can’t make taxes too high because it’s good for society to have billionaires. Can someone help me understand this logic lol

[@capnswaze6228]

Using your wealth to fund charity and paying taxes are very different things. Sam's concept of earning to give, allows him to do what he does best, which is build businesses and earn money and perpetually allocate excess earnings to charity. Taxing unrealized gains basically chips away at someone like Sam's ability to create wealth over time, for a promise that the govt. MAYBE allocates it to some meaningful improvement of society

[@DebateCentrals]

@@capnswaze6228 you run into the same problem when you just count on the possibility that rich people will be charitable. Idk about taxing unrealized gains, but surly taxes are a more reliable source of social funds than charity

[@capnswaze6228]

@@DebateCentrals Yea true, you cant guarantee charity from everyone. But, hearing things like tax unrealized gains and that 'no one can become a billionaire by legitimate means' is also absolute madness. A realistic fix IMO is a reasonable wealth tax ( < 1%) on all assets excluding real estate (since you already pay property tax on that) for the ultra wealthy (100 million and above). Taxes on ultra luxury goods and properties can also be a reasonable way to get some more change. Need to find a way to tax consumption so rich people cant get around paying taxes by just borrowing money against their assets.

[@DebateCentrals]

@@capnswaze6228 it’s hard to tax billionaires when they just hold money in assets. What is your take on a large estate tax. Also known as a death tax. I believe that is the best tax for this issue.

[@wasdwasdedsf]

uhhhh... cause one is voluntarily chosing to give money to something you think is the best value and one is having it taken by the most incompetent organisation in humanitys history and forcefully spent on nonsense...?

[@churblefurbles]

Sam's favorite liberal conman.

[@Stories10]

The philanthropist who was buying real estate with customers' money in the Bahamas. He fooled you, Sam, but I hope at least you have not invested in his company. Or did you?

[@pajiad191]

SAM LOVES TO PLATFORM JEWISH HUCKSTERS

[@50_Pence]

Haha

[@Ever23last]

Kanye listens to Sam Harris cool

[@Utoko]

"Ultimately I plan to give away almost everything one way or another" If that wasn't the truth. He just didn't mention that he would also give away all the customer funds.

[@OpiatedBliss]

13:09 interview starts

[@FartCoffin]

Thanks

[@CarlosHfam]

Thank you!!

[@ctdieselnut]

Nice username

[@revolt1947]

When is part 2 coming ...???

[@DaveG-qd6ug]

😂

[@raylouis9218]

I used to love Sam Harris. Trump utterly broke him, emotionally, intellectually, morally.

[@JoeyDMedford]

Well said.

[@mohr4less]

Nah he was a toolbox before Trump.

[@jawelNeezeker]

he never had a moral compas

[@transom2]

Nonsense

[@razadaza9651]

I think SBF’s league of legends time cuts into his philanthropy

[@link6563]

I am sure Sam the "intellectual" will Apologize for this scam...... lmao

[@JhintendoTwitch]

This aged terriby, such a waste

[@dirk-piehl28]

One mensch helping another out. Props to Sam Harris for not removing this post.

[@erc9468]

Nothing says working to benefit humanity and trying to improve the lot of your fellow humans like running a scam which enriches you by stealing people’s life savings.

[@petemccutchen3266]

This did not age well.

[@user-ko3tv7jl2r]

Well this didn't age well.

[@TentaclePentacle]

it actually doesn't take a lot of money to solve some of the problems. The issue is most charities are frauds who are there just to make money for their employees. They don't want to solve the problem, they just want to raise money, pay their employees and their CEOs. Help out around the margins without actually solving anything to keep their business going. If they actually solved the problem they would be out of business and that's something they can not allow.

[@homewall744]

That sounds like government-funded "charities" because they just want to grow and don't need to prove they are effective.

[@TentaclePentacle]

@@homewall744 Most of the charities is like that. only local small charities that don't get much money who actually go on the ground do any good. The rest of them are scams.

[@EricAndradeMusic]

That's basically what's happening in Los Angeles with homelessness.

[@stodykoopmeinhuis4118]

Listen to Sam's podcasts episodes with William MacAskill, you might enjoy them :)

[@bwake]

Pournelle’s Iron Law of Bureaucracy applies to _all_ organizations.

[@phildown99]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[@henkbielderman4243]

Aaaah yes! Sam Harris, one of the great intellectuals of our time.

[@marcopanti1017]

🤣

[@stephenpaul7499]

I'm not trying to provoke, I am genuinely curious. Who, in your opinion, are among the great intellectuals of our time? Also any podcast recommendations that cover similar terrain would be most welcome :)

[@henkbielderman4243]

@@stephenpaul7499 The impression I have is that Jordan Peterson is the greatest public intellectual of our time. You can do no worse than spend some time with his work. He has joined The Daily Wire and although subscription based, it is well worth listening to either his lectures or the discussions he has with others.

[@stephenpaul7499]

​@@henkbielderman4243 let's agree to dissagree :)

[@henkbielderman4243]

@@stephenpaul7499 Perhaps I misunderstood your question. I read it to mean those intellectuals in the public sphere, who have podcasts and are current. You could do far worse than Jordan Peterson, Sam Harris for example.

[@tommytwomommy]

So a tithe?

[@tomisaacson2762]

Sam Harris's naivete especially shines through in this podcast 😂

[@GamerGuy51]

....the shady exchanges were using customer funds huh? Interesting 🤔

[@CrouchingShiba]

So are you going to the Bahamas, Sam?

[@blooper6543]

I had never heard of this SBF guy until a couple of days ago, and it took me 30 seconds of hearing him talk to figure out he was a fraud. Sam's instincts are terrible.

[@blooper6543]

@terry agaso I'm generally distrustful of these EA types anyway, so I'm confident that I would have sussed him out.

[@Eudaletism]

@@blooper6543 A better heuristic is to be wary of crypto types and billionaires. EA types are some of the nicest people I've been able to find; they're just what happens when math nerds are raised by Mr. Rogers, and they have not yet lost their faith in the world, and still see it as a beautiful place worth protecting. The flaw of EA types is something more like an excessive trust, giving the benefit of the doubt even to those who might take advantage. It will sadden me greatly if overly trusting neurodivergent charitable givers get victim blamed for this.

[@piercesmith1465]

Lmao! I just left a very similar comment on Sam H.'s recent video about SBF's fall.

[@DarthLesbian]

@@Eudaletism You are a joke

[@WestCoastGeoLover]

Agree 100%. Sam's politics are dulling his senses. "Waking Up" ??? That's a hoot.

[@inahara8999]

Oh, Sam Harris.. I used to worship him. But then, the first time I felt there was something fishy about him was when he suddenly attacked Bret Weinstein. I was shocked. But mostly dissapointed that he did not reach out to Bret instead of attacking him. Then he continued to reveal his poor judgement in the infamous Triggernometry episode. And now this..how did he fall for this guy? How can we trust his judgement from now on? What a fall.. It broke my heart..

[@brisingr12]

He is kinda dumb. It's surpurising what kinds of people can get a PhD and become famous.

[@WilhelmFreidrich]

Yep, same.

[@Utoko]

The Problem is that they all can't stay away from topics they know nothing about. Sam Harris, Bret Weinstein, Jordan Peterson and all the others. They just do thought dumps on the hot topics and social media inflated their egos. Curse of a Podcaster I guess. Even a "Great Thinker" Needs Information and evidence to have profound thought and real insight. They are not investing the necessary time to get a deep understanding of the topic. Imho all 3 have deep knowledge in their field but all 3 are branching out way too much.

[@michaelbeaster2921]

Bret Weinstein is a conspiracy theory peddling clown

[@englishimmersion3557]

That would be very great if you have a clips channel like other podcasters. Please consider making one.

[@david2869]

When I first read this title it looked like "Sam Harris: A conversation with Sam backfired."

[@blackops9572]

I thought it was Sam Harris: “A conversation with Sam while fried”

[@danjsy]

How prescient of you

[@Utoko]

This should be the title now. It is telling how uncritical he is when Sam is dealing with someone on the 'in' group. Especially the follow-up was embarrassing. Never admitting to any blindspot. It isn't even SBF building himself up here. Sam is building up SBF here throughout the conversation but based one what? What great did SBF do for that, other than saying the "effective altruism" buzzword?

[@cdavidlake2]

This didn't age well.

[@yaongingyfmm1571]

And like, you know... I like became a billionaire, like you know, by mistake you know...

[@kenadams5504]

I didnt understand one sentance the interviewee said. they literally are on a different page than regular people.

[@renoeb]

Oh and I’m earning to give but I’m the richest self made billionaire under 30 in crypto lol come on bro

[@yaongingyfmm1571]

@@renoeb So what?! I wasn't knocking him for that, it's great he is willing to give all that money away, for good causes, but I find this repetitive way of speaking to be so tedious on the ears...

[@Thisisahandle701]

@@renoeb A billionaire can give a lot more than you or I. At least he want to do good with his wealth, I haven't heard jeff bezos wanting to do any good with his wealth.

[@WilhelmFreidrich]

@@Thisisahandle701 Maybe you will live to regret that comment...

[@YawnGod]

Sam Harris is realizing that he was wrong about The Pandemic, and the tossing and turning going on in his mind is just fucking great.

[@ArcanumArcanorum17]

What did he claim beforehand

[@YawnGod]

@Kwistenbiebel200 I didn't know there was a new episode. I was just trying to be logical and hoping that my hero Sam Harris isn't, you know, no longer my hero. I guess that is not logical. The cosmic horror of losing your heroes. Edit: After now having listened to the episode...oh my God, he's selling NFTs. Is this our fault? Did we break Sam Harris?

[@YawnGod]

And the Project Veritas release of the DARPA document is going to break Sam Harris. God, I hope Sam Harris is anti-fragile. Please, no seppuku, Sam.

[@50_Pence]

What about now? Haha

[@CGW129]

@@YawnGod The seriousness of the pandemic is one of the few things he got right. Let me guess, you're another Weinstein goon?

[@Johnwilkinsonofficial]

and legit his name is *BANKMAN* ? comon!

[@50_Pence]

It's now SKANKMAN

[@NeoN-PeoN]

Sam, why have years of videos been wiped from your page?

[@awribalhidugagk2949]

Because he used to make more sense before Trump broke him. He now disagrees with his older videos

[@ronin4160]

Jesus Christ, how do people stand listening to this guy with 30 minute rambling intros about nothing? I'm trying to hate-listen to this to see how ironic the conversation is in light of recent events but I don't know if I'll actually make it to the convo

[@JoeyDMedford]

🤣

[@kenadams5504]

If altruism is about giving loads of money to lots of causes, I have selftruism whereby I have nothing and keep it to myself.

[@Utoko]

and still you did more good than SBF. Keep rocking!

[@leanmchungry4735]

SBF's purported interest in altruism looks like Jim Bakker's interest in Christianity: a virtuous surface opposite to the underlying impulse. This talk's dull, but all power to Sam for his interest in this field.

[@matthewmcguire728]

Sam accepting the premise that "Maximum good I can do in the world" could possibly involve a crypto exchange is painful. A company that makes shoes does more good for the world than all companies in crypto combined. Doing good needs to get back to actually doing things, rather than simply donating money.

[@10010x0x0x01101XX0X1]

exactly. a crypto exchange isn't creating value or increased productivity. at BEST your skimming money out of the world from small retail investors and lining your own pocket with it, and at WORST you are literally just stealing all the clients money. no net good was created here. only thing that happened was money was shifted from one pocket to another

[@davidfgranger]

Easy come easy go.

[@duran9664]

A company charity 🤦‍♂️ oh right! How much they get in revenue and pay for the “management?” And do they use children for their pleasure before they give them the charity like what the UN humanitarian arm is accused of? 🤦‍♂️

[@davidr2421]

The top charities in the Effective Altruism space are under heavy scrutiny to be transparent and cost-effective; that's what makes them so great compared to average charities or government programs, which are generally mediocre. If a nonprofit doesn't have the financial information and records to show that they are actually efficient with the money they get, then they won't qualify as "effective charities" in the Giving What We Can sense.

[@davidr2421]

Oh you're talking about the company Sam is talking about at the beginning? I guess I don't know anything about how they're run. I still think it's a cool idea in principle, though.

[@wasdwasdedsf]

if a charity doesnt have existential risk reduction in some form its by default a useless charity

[@dalelane1948]

Umm, its all on chain. You can literally go look for yourself. Smart contracts cannot be corrupted - any involved party can peruse and choose to agree with the terms or not. There is no under the table because there is no table. These ideas are an answer (maybe not the answer?) to all the problems you are describing so enjoy them.

[@WilhelmFreidrich]

@@davidr2421 I guess you're regretting this commebt now rotfl!

[@martinluther2386]

This interview shows how believable Bankman Fieid was to those who did not understand the underlying technology of the blockchain. Bankman-Fried very cleverly conflates Bitcoin and FTX. No matter what you think about bitcoin and how unstable it is, it is the polar opposite of FTX. FTX was an exchange, the very entity that Bitcoin was designed to eliminate. Bankman-Fried understood and exploited this with people who were not technically capable of understanding the difference.

[@flaggerify]

27:35 relevant

[@bakedcreations8985]

Let's admit, talking in a calm and collected manner doesn't make one a great thinker. A schmuck is a schmuck regardless of time spent in meditation

[@jaednhowlar2359]

Asa practising Buddhist, my former trust/admiration in Sam Harris makes me feel a little like Sam must feel about looking up to this guy.

[@Utoko]

Newsflash not a single person is a "great thinker" in every topic in existence. Great thinker, still need to think deep and get input, which hot topic podcaster, like Sam, is now don't have or take. I would say that Sam was a great thinker in this field of expertise, what also started the Podcast. Now he is just doing mind dump on different topics. Same story with Jorden Peterson and others. They have deep knowledge in an area and then social media builds their ego, so they assume they become enlighten in every topic.

[@paulb7669]

Sam complains about Trump being dangerous with a platform, yet he gives platforms to financial criminals like this. Hypocrisy 101

[@sg23148]

He didn't know and Trump is still a price of shit

[@transom2]

Harris didn't know that SBF was a criminal at this point. Neither did most of the fawning media & big name investors & celebrities. trump is & has been an obvious fraud & criminal his entire adult life

[@theoryofeverywhere6293]

Is someone able to provide a TL;DR on how the meaning of this conversation has changed (if at all) given the recent news concerning FTX?

[@Locationary]

Sam committed fraud

[@johne1743]

TLDR: SBF is a fraud. Or at the very least tried to beat the system ended up becoming one.

[@m74d3]

I'd like the same synopsis. My interest in listening through this podcast and getting up to date on the latest news is Kelvin 0

[@jokerman0000]

I tried to give it a listen but I find it impossible to separate it from recent events. All I hear is a con artist saying a whole lotta nothing. Ultimately the facade of altruism ended up being effective PR for a likely sociopath to line his pockets. Were there signs? Some people could see it. Sam didn't. Hind sight is a wonderful thing..

[@tomisaacson2762]

Sam Harris's naivete and cluelessness about the nature of capitalism really stands out now. It was apparent before, now it's just more prominent.

[@jakebestname9000]

"You should wonder, is that data real or is it garbage" - SBF, 2022 Classic.

[@BoundlessRoamad]

This aged like milk

[@Roland_Deschain_]

Bankman? LOL

[@nasnema]

Are you a salesman or a philosopher? Great God debunking material in yesteryear. Thanks to your mum for Golden Girls.

[@jerejarvinen625]

Lol this didn't age well

[@ready1fire1aim1]

Q: What is the tech convergence singularity point needed for each Independent Individual, from any Libertarian Nation on the Planet, to feel safe enough in their own Individual Authority, when out in Public spaces, to begin becoming that Libertarian Nation? A: some variation of the "Individual Authority Body Worn Camera 'BWC' livestreaming device" connected to Social Network Circles and Medical Aid or The Law. -an Independant-American, Free-market Capitalist friend from the Libertarian Nation of America, 2025 🇺🇸

[@vincegreenlee3470]

This was such a dissapointment of a conversation and such a waist of time. I was really hoping this would be a real and effective conversation about "effective altruism". You're both real smart. Great. Thanks. Thanks for all the hot air and no difference made. SBH exactly how much money or what % or your money have you given away and to who and for what? What good have you actually done? How "effective has your altruism" been? Don't talk about doing good. Talk about the good you've done and are doing? Real talk please...

[@alexdrudigmail]

Listening to this on November 26. 2022, on can say this podcast DOES make sense! 😂

[@LMarkWeeks]

Sam, great podcast. I would be interested in your views on the relative values of focusing on animal welfare/rights vs habit and species protection/extinction prevention. The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive but there is a question of priorities. I have my own views but would very much be interested in yours on this topic.

[@PositivePessimist]

Interesting mate… I’d be happy to hear your views?

[@brisingr12]

It's all about the $ 🍯

[@AndySurtees]

Go on then..

[@homewall744]

The only moral action is one free chosen by free will. Force is the rejection of moral reasoning and actions.

[@danjsy]

Of all Sam's guests, this one struck false - just seemed too good to be true.

[@Septeus7]

But Trump University.....

[@deleteyourlife191]

Building the towers Belongs to the sky When the whole thing comes crashing down Don't ask me why

[@moum6688]

Ah, another instance of good ideas being spread that will better the world, thank you Sam!

[@marcelbritsch5127]

that 'good idea' has turned into billions lost, most likely due to outright fraud.

[@Paranoid1996]

LOL

[@youtubecommenter6883]

Well this comment aged like milk

[@Nuttymike]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA

[@AlanSchildroth]

Sam is giving me his arm to twist!

[@userrrfriendly1908]

What an interesting conversation between a self-proclaimed philosopher and a word class scammer, or maybe it's just a conversation between two world class scammers 🤷‍♂

[@ferball415]

It isn’t, thanks for playing.

[@ctdieselnut]

Sam's a PhD, look up what that stands for.

[@algo-wave]

How is Sam Harris a scammer though?

[@BarkusMuhl]

SBF the scammer will steal your money, Sam the athiest will steal your soul.

[@algo-wave]

@@BarkusMuhl talking from experience?

[@blackops9572]

Sam, thank you so much for your podcasts. Your doing so much good in this world through just your podcasts alone. It’s such a privilege just to be able to listen to these conversations. Rationality and truth is so important in this irrational world. Thank you so much!

[@wasdwasdedsf]

lol

[@Prestorizzor]

As if Sam Harris is a rational thinker, man's given up his principles to shill for big pharma.

[@brisingr12]

What were you saying?, come again please..

[@henkbielderman4243]

How do you feel about your obsequious comment now?

[@fatmurray1]

😂

[@RichardBronosky]

1:01:28 If we want there to be less conspiracy thinking, there needs to be less conspiracy doing. I'm very concerned about the next pandemic because we have learned nothing about the damage caused by lying to the people. The people don't trust the leaders because the leaders shouldn't be trusted. The next one is going to be far worse. Telling the truth is going to be far more important. Because the liars have been defended by tribalism, the divide is going to be greater.

[@Canadian_Eh_I]

As someone who is extremely skeptical of the virus origins AND its response, I really really want to trust my government. I do.

[@toby9999]

Then stop listening to the leaders. What would they know about virology, microbiology or epidemiology? Nothing. That's why I listen to the scientists at the coal face. The doers and not the talkers.

[@toby9999]

@@Canadian_Eh_I Why would you want to trust your government on such an issue? They're politicians.

[@TentaclePentacle]

the difference between a conspiracy theory and accepted fact is about 4 months.

[@nGUNNARp]

well said

[@robertgwynne1401]

Con to give, this did not age well, start vetting and do due diligence rather than simply following the herd of the anointed ones.

[@YT2024Hayward]

“Ishmael” by Daniel Quinn has an interesting take on altruism. In some cases unforeseen consequences of charitable actions can set in motion a number of unintended outcomes.

[@GENERICCEREAL67]

The greatest book, in my opinion, ever written.

[@theguy9067]

🤣

[@thewakakeboarder]

The future is here... this statement is true. Especially reference to SBF

[@thescaleofnature5775]

I no longer think Sam Harris is simply suffering from extreme TDS and naive.He has to be getting paid to spout propaganda do all of these puff pieces. I’ve slowly lost all respect for him

[@jawelNeezeker]

he has no moral compass

[@transom2]

Still love the Orange Ignoramus tho I trust?

[@govindagovindaji4662]

SBF was correct about the relative uselessness of endowing universities where only an elite few can enter. Why not endow 'all' our public schools~? What a treat it would be. What a trend we would set the citizens of the United States on; smarter people everywhere. I would love to attend even a family event where people actually enjoyed more interesting conversation, let alone a public one.

[@piercesmith1465]

"This is a PSA so there's no paywall."

[@WilhelmFreidrich]

What a service!

[@ready1fire1aim1]

An 🇺🇲American; born an ⚪Independant-Individual and only needing to be taught No Force and No Fraud to any other ⚪Independent-Individual's Person or Property. The rest comes naturally, as we are all born Objective, until we are taught otherwise. We are an ⚪Independant 🇺🇲Nation of Individual Americans. Both of the 🔴Republican and 🔵Democratic Parties are tearing apart Our🇺🇲Nation, dividing Independant-Individual Americans. Our 1st President George Washington was ⚪Independent for this very reason. Since mid 2017 America has had the 🛰wifi and •livestream• tech to make Justice Objective in Public and of our own volition. It's 🗽Libertarian 🇺🇲Nation or eventual 🇬🇧 and 🇦🇺 Government CCTV everywhere and Law Enforcement vs. Population. #libertyforall

[@WhiteWolf126]

This is what happens when you put greater value on promoting and inviting a certain ethnic group than inviting actual thinkers.

[@ctdieselnut]

"Its a big club, and you ain't in it! You and I arnt in the big club..."

[@UncriticalRaceTheory]

yes because brown people are wise because they are brown

[@vt6653]

@@UncriticalRaceTheory with a surname like "Swart" I guess you would know. People still hate "brown people" in SA?

[@Azozeo]

Welcome to the metaverse kids!

[@TIm_Bugge]

@41:15... "It seems there's way too little focus in the world on doing good". IMO, the 'world' is an abstract concept. One is never faced with the opportunity to do good (or harm) in an abstract concept. One is, however, continually faced with the opportunity to do so in reality, ie. in the moment and place that they find their selves. To do good 'in the world' is painless and inexpensive compared to doing good in reality. ALSO, doing good 'in the world' can be materially self serving. How many 'do gooders' are actually net 'do badders'? How many of them signal their 'do-gooder' virtue to hide the fact that they do harm in reality?

[@Thisisahandle701]

The world isn't an abstract concept though. It's where all the humans and other animals are, if you are able to sustainably reduce suffering, you are doing "good in the world".

[@TIm_Bugge]

@@Thisisahandle701 - The word 'world' can indeed be abstracted from it's literal use and used figuratively as in 'the living world', or 'my world' or 'change the world' or 'save the world' etc. In these usages the use is not intended to be taken literally. Regarding the guest's claim "It seems there's way too little focus in the world on doing good", there are plenty of people who are focused on doing good who are in fact doing harm. The problem isn't that there isn't enough focus on doing good but rather there isn't enough focus on not doing harm. I've spent years donating time and money to charities only to discover that their efforts were misguided to the point that they in fact caused far more harm than good. I would have discovered my error sooner had I understood how easy it is to do harm. Platitudes such as 'do good in the world' appeal to one's psychological need to believe one 'is' good, which is well and fine until that platitude overwhelms the psychologically difficult task to "first do no harm".

[@brisingr12]

@@TIm_Bugge interesting. How do charities cause harm though? Just curious. Also kudos for sort of being lowkey vindicated on smelling some bs from this guy. 'Doing good in the world' sounds fishy as fu*k. It's not as easy to do good -- the world is a complex and having real positive impact is as complex and needs to be constantly questioned.

[@govindagovindaji4662]

1:07:32 The impact lobbyist like the NRA has in politics isn't just how little (or in other cases much) money is spent, it's 'how' they spend it. The NRA brow beats by going into candidates' districts, buying ads and supporting alternate candidates; they render all manner of malfeasance.

[@TheMemesofDestruction]

7:38 - Sam Harris embraces old religious meme by different means. ☮️ ❤️ 🎄🎊 ^.^

[@truetech4158]

A very unapologetic very smiley catholic cleptomaniac threatened to arson my atheist parents home after we allowed him to move in even. He was raised to pretend that arsons produce afterlives and that atheists walk on a lake of fire for all eternity and that somebody walked on water.

[@TheMemesofDestruction]

@@truetech4158 :( That’s I’m sorry your Family endured that… doesn’t sound like a person who donates 10% of their income to charity. >.>

[@truetech4158]

@@TheMemesofDestruction I see alot of people who hijack causes the claim to represent, and it's interesting that legally charities only have to show for 33% of incoming funds. I eventually decided to moved 4 hours away from a unapologetic bone breakingly violent afterlife professing wannabe chuck norris type of older brother and his creepy aberhamic authoritarian proud boys domestic terrorist group themed friends who took over our sadly missed very caring nonviolent atheist parents city home.

[@truetech4158]

@terence francis that comment brings aspergers and moral disconnection to mind.

[@TheMemesofDestruction]

@@truetech4158 I updated to what originally popped into my head. I ended up craft the originally published comment to provoke much of the Audience demographic. Thank you for sharing your experience. ☮️ ❤️

[@maynardgent6708]

This is one of my least favourite podcasts from Sam, I found it irritatingly patronising on many levels. The continued insistence by Sam that one must give away 10% of the income in order to adequately contribute to society feels tone deaf to the point that it's clear these typed of people really are detached from reality. One could be in what would be considered to be a well paid job and still find it hard to make ends meet, and to basically suggest that if close your eyes hard enough you'll feel happy to give away 10% I just find ridiculous. But the worst part of this podcast is when Sam bankman fried is asked how much he gives, he spends 15 minutes not answering the question and instead waffling about very vague notions of "giving" which made it sound like he basically just provides a bit of consultancy here and there about pandemic preparedness. Add to that the fact he admitted that he only gives away from his personal wealth, which will be a small fraction of his company's wealth, and it doesn't come across like he gives much away at all.

[@luvsuneja]

Most people already give a lot in taxes. How about finding ways for better transparency and live feedback to ensure that money is used well.

[@kenadams5504]

I sense that these poor billionaires do feel guilty about being overly privilaged ,so it is my obligation to bring them respite by allowing them to hire someone to repair the leaking roof of my gov welfare susidised crappy bedsit.You're welcome rich dudes.

[@homewall744]

10% would be correct if government didn't already forcefully take 30% of my income. I already pay 3 times more, and it goes to the worst "charities" possible, corrupt government run by idiot central planners who pretend a command economy is better than a free market one of free people doing free trades in free association.

[@pocket83squared]

@@homewall744 @Home Wall Forcefully! As though it's a theft. You idealistic Libertarians become so tedious. _Me, me, me; I'm an individual, and I should be free, free, free, because I'm so industrious, and I'd be a job creator if it weren't for the stupid regulations and the government._ Shut up and pay your taxes. If we cut to the quick here, you've done little to nothing in terms of net contribution. Your tiny income tax hardly compensates the rest of us for the amount of resource you consume, so stop your whining. If there were tax rates anywhere near commensurate with the opportunity cost of displacement that's caused by having to keep you and all of your spoiled children alive, we sure wouldn't have a $30 Trillion dollar debt. Tell me honestly that you don't receive or use any write-offs, or grants, or stimulus checks, or subsidies, or [insert your exemption/privileged cut]. Stop crying and accept that you have to pitch in. It's as though not a one of you have ever taken an ecology course, yet you sure do fancy yourselves economists. Value is mined, not created by you; work only forges it from a finite supply. Now spare me the lecture on the mismanagements of big government. Take your Non-aggression principle and your Ayn Rand books back to the underneath of some old Milton Friedman videos, where you and your friends can continue using _South Park_ sarcasm to defend your unsustainably entitled worldview, since, other than Stan's intuition-derived 'common sense' morality, it has no other recourse. The discussion was about willful charity; it had nothing to do with your not wanting to help financially with collective problems.

[@dbrandeau]

@@pocket83squared chill

[@rosenewsonbilibilicomics1458]

Greetings, Bilibili Comics here. We genuinely love your works. Any thoughts about KZbin's collaboration? There's contact on my header or about section if there's anything on your mind. Have a good day.

[@DaveG-qd6ug]

Sam fell for this 😂

[@jps0117]

He was hardly alone. Were you prescient?

[@halflifeproductionz]

Another member of the tribe.

[@danfriend9567]

It's a "guilty pleasure" giving my Mom's "Golden Girls"$ away.

[@boggledeggnoggler5472]

Got em

[@thedancingveganatheist6310]

How is this idea genuinely new? For years now, you have been able to buy pasta sauce from a company that gives 100% of the profit to charity...

[@homewall744]

Anybody who relies on "100% of the profits to charity" doesn't understand bookkeeping. Some so-called non-profits pass billions through their accounts and then don't show a profit. Heck, with our corrupt tax code that only corrupt politicians could enact to prop up their fascism (give free stuff to buy voters, repay donors using other people's money taken by force), even rich corporations can show zero profits.

[@thedancingveganatheist6310]

@@homewall744 Another intetesting point. But again, I hate how old are ideas are passed off as new. Annoys me.

[@jaednhowlar2359]

Cuz its Sam doing it, and nobody has ever been as wise as Sam, who single handedly saved Meditation from the clutches of an Iron Age Charlatan named Buddha. Now he shall do the same for charity. (massive sarcasm warning)

[@AndySurtees]

Great Utilitarianism, Sam. You presumably didn't calculate the percentage of your audience that would listen to this, trust SBF, invest, lose everything, and eventually delete themselves. But no, Utilitarianism is unimpeachable, because who wouldn't want to do whatever works best. And if it doesn't work best, well, who knew?

[@thewakakeboarder]

SBF Is clearly unethical. And takes high risks with others people money. I don't think Sam harris understands finance enough... sbf appears honest in his intentions give a lot of money to EA causes Sam Harris aligns with.

[@jaednhowlar2359]

Sad to realize people may have killed themselves partly in thanks to Sam Harris' lack of accountability, proffessionalism, and basic common sense.

[@thewakakeboarder]

@@jaednhowlar2359 this is an absurd comment. That is out of touch with reality. If anyone killed themselves it's due to risking more money than they were mentally capable of dealing with risking in a very new financial landscape that is extremely volitile. While at the same time not doing their own diligent research. Sam Harris is not a financial expert and never explores the details of FTXs operations. This podcast is primarily about promoting the idea of effective altruism. In hindsight it appears SBF only cared about effective Alturism for his own selfish ego though.

[@DTR89]

"Earning to give" simply makes no sense, given that the money indirectly comes from the same people you're supposedly giving it back to! I was suspect of Bankman from the start, although I never envisioned such a collapse. Did he donate even one charitable dime along the way?

[@markjapan4062]

ALL COINS ARE A PYRAMID....BLOCK CHAIN IS A DIVERSION.....FOOL

[@thegoodthebadandtheugly579]

Why charity, Sam? Shouldn’t we all just pay taxes and all the help come out of the taxes we already pay? Charities are ways to not pay your taxes, pay relatives who work at non-profits and channel money into all kinds of other directions.. CHARITIES DON’T WORK.

[@BryanM-nd6xj]

We’re already forced to pay taxes, and don’t have much jurisdiction on allocation. Giving to charity is a way to give extra help, in a more focused manner. Thank you for your support.