Re:The good delusion: has effective altruism broken bad?
by naasking on Thursday November 17, 2022 @09:55AM
(#33639672)
> If someone did that I think it's interesting what conclusions they might draw about how to spend their money or what job they might choose. It destroys much of the point of having a family.
I'm not sure they would. They might adopt instead of having their own kids, for instance.
> So the needs of random strangers would almost always outweigh the needs of your children assuming they are healthy and you live comfortably.
Not necessarily. Divide and conquer is one of our most effective problem solving strategies, and family units fall under this umbrella of dividing the work of raising the next generation.
> But the specific bias I was accusing some in the EA community of having is virtue signalling as having superior ethics, morals, and intelligence. I think that is a real bias.
It could be. It's also possible that they are more ethical and intelligent though. Not in the sense that becoming an EA makes you more intelligent, but in the sense that maybe EA attracts more intelligent and ethical people. This self-sorting effect would diminish as EA spreads in popularity of course.
Ultimately, whether they are more ethical or intelligent is an empirical claim that you can validate, and while it's reasonable to think it's implausible for it to be true, that's not a proof that it isn't true.
I'm not sure they would. They might adopt instead of having their own kids, for instance.
> So the needs of random strangers would almost always outweigh the needs of your children assuming they are healthy and you live comfortably.
Not necessarily. Divide and conquer is one of our most effective problem solving strategies, and family units fall under this umbrella of dividing the work of raising the next generation.
> But the specific bias I was accusing some in the EA community of having is virtue signalling as having superior ethics, morals, and intelligence. I think that is a real bias.
It could be. It's also possible that they are more ethical and intelligent though. Not in the sense that becoming an EA makes you more intelligent, but in the sense that maybe EA attracts more intelligent and ethical people. This self-sorting effect would diminish as EA spreads in popularity of course.
Ultimately, whether they are more ethical or intelligent is an empirical claim that you can validate, and while it's reasonable to think it's implausible for it to be true, that's not a proof that it isn't true.