Thread

Effective altruism is this century's biggest idea

9 points · 33 comments · Anon84

d_silin · 1790866292 · focus · HN ↗
Almost any ideology, no matter how noble and inspiring, can be hijacked by the worst kind of people for their own selfish wants.
How to fix this problem?
1. bryanlarsen · 1790866612 · focus · HN ↗
  It can be done, but only partially, and it's really @#%ing hard. Christianity no longer offers indulgences, for instance.
2. gizajob · 1790866821 · focus · HN ↗
  Not starting with completely faulty ideologies where egotism and manipulation and coercion are baked-in.
3. forshaper · 1790872992 · focus · HN ↗
  Pick an ideology that allows for selfish wants. For example, long-term greed would actually allow a lot more win-win coordination than currently happens.
  1. kragen · 1790890682 · focus · HN ↗
    Incidentally, the consequentialist theories of ethics that EA is founded on are especially bad at this. Usually, consequentialism excludes supererogation: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demandingness_objection" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demandingness_objection
    One of the most effective (heh) programs of EA, predating the "EA" name itself, is an explicit halfway measure here, called "Giving What We Can", which advocates for people to donate less to charity than the maximum amount they could; specifically, 10% of their income: <a href="https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/" rel="nofollow">https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/

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