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I am skeptical of effective altruism as anything useful or worthwhile but this article doesn't address the real issues with the movement. There is a fundamental

I am skeptical of effective altruism as anything useful or worthwhile but this article doesn't address the real issues with the movement. There is a fundamental flaw with utilitarianism and it's the fact that "good" can not be defined in terms of utility functions. It's not possible to reduce morality to mathematics and dollar expenditure but that seems to be what effective altruists are proposing. Reduced to its core propositions it is essentially an economic religion with utility maximization as its only commandment.

dale_glass 4y ago
> There is a fundamental flaw with utilitarianism and it's the fact that "good" can not be defined in terms of utility functions. Why not? I'd say huge parts of human behavior are enormously utilitarian. Eg, a huge amount of people will be pro-war if the war has a good purpose to it. Ultimately a war consists of A killing B, and B killing A, and most everyone will find a side to cheer for, which is usually extremely predictable based on who and where they are. > It's not possible to reduce morality to mathematics and dollar expenditure but that seems to be what effective altruists are proposing. I think on the whole examining the consequences of our actions results in a more pleasant world to live in long term. It's important to actually think why we're doing what we're doing. Is it to earn moral points for ourselves, or to create a better world long term? Eg, charity done carelessly can be destructive to those we intend to help.