4 ms·

What’s the counterpoint you’re actually trying to make?

• vkou 3y ago
  I categorically reject the claim that 'most non-EA people believe that the 'best way to help people' is donating based on feelings'. 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.
  • vbeeaz 3y ago
    Given that most NGO ad campaigns that I've seen looking for people to donate were emotionally manipulative nonsense, I disagree.
    • vkou 3y ago
      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 global 'goodness' 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.