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The evolution of effective altruism

70 points · 191 comments · bazzmt

  1. oulipo · · focus · HN ↗
    I've always been wary of effective altruism. Anything that geek and people want to "optimize out" by engineering has a risk of just being a "let's ride very fast towards that wall" kind of venture
    1. Angostura · · focus · HN ↗
      What about if it were called 'evidence-based altruism'?
      1. BLKNSLVR · · focus · HN ↗
        The name always ends up being an umbrella for the craziness that groups of like minded rich-beyond-your-wildest-dreams folks will turn it into.

        It's practically an axiom.

        How do you turn a good idea into an existential threat to humanity? Let a like-minded group of very rich people commandeer it for a short while.

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