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The point is you wouldn't endanger the lives of teenagers to build a community theater because you believe the lives of teenagers are more valuable than a commu
by JamesBarney 4y ago
The point is you wouldn't endanger the lives of teenagers to build a community theater because you believe the lives of teenagers are more valuable than a community theater.
But repairing a community theater could easily cost $100,000 which would save the lives of ~22 people in Guinea if donated to certain bed net charities. And even the most die hard theater fans probably wouldn't save a theater if to do so it would require risking 22 lives for.
So in this case quantification isn't failing, it's succeeding. It's correctly telling us which donations are more effective. And all our intuition agrees that the $100,000 theater is worth less than the 22 lives.
- TedDoesntTalk 4y agoNo. This ignores the effect of donating locally and helping local causes. Your comparison does not account for global differences in needs.
- blitzar 4y agoBut the theatre has a chance of spawning a future movie star who also has a chance of being an EA advocate. Directly through their $50million movie paycheques they will be saving 10,000 lives at a future date. Thus by chosing to repair the community theatre you are directly causing the death of 9,978 people.
- quickthrower2 4y agoThe same argument means that any luxury that any person indulges in. Let’s say thanksgiving, christmas, craft beer, VR headset, calling their mother, etc. is costing X lives (X is not necessary integer) and so isn’t the rationalist thing to do. “Ah bit they are luxuries, distinct from charity…” Ok then give me the luxury of donating to the local theatre!
- awsdasdasd 4y agoEffective alturism vs luxury alturism?
- quickthrower2 4y agoYes I guess!
- xorfish 4y agoI think this is fitting in that context: Schindler's List | "I Didn't Do Enough" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9vj2Wf57rQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9vj2Wf57rQ In the end, nearly everyone values their life higher than the life of others. The more distant that the "others" are the less we value them.