Re:What the Hell Happened to Effective Altruism
by vbeeaz on Sunday November 19, 2023 @06:44PM
(#38339929)
Given that most NGO ad campaigns that I've seen looking for people to donate were emotionally manipulative nonsense, I disagree.
Re:What the Hell Happened to Effective Altruism
by vkou on Sunday November 19, 2023 @06:46PM
(#38339938)
All advertising is emotionally manipulative, but just because I bought something that was advertised to me doesn't mean that I consider it 'the best possible purchase'.
It could have been the purchase of least resistance. It could have been the best at maximizing some particular utility. It could have been a purchase of the most recent thing that was on my mind. My decisions, unlike that of these theoretical EAs don't solely consist of maximizing some utility function.
When I gave $500 to the town's theatre this year, it wasn't because 'I was trying to maximize the best way to help people, and I erroneously made a sub-optimal choice, because I based it on feelings'.
Paperclip-maximization was the furthest thing from my mind at the time. Anyone looking at my decision, and concluding based on it that I was buying into some Big Lie is completely nuts.
I follow it up with a corollary that if EA is so utterly deluded about 'the pillar upon which it was founded', I have strong doubts that its disciples are particularly good at 'qualitatively' measuring impact.