See also [[List of best criticisms of effective altruism]] Link: - https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/YrXZ3pRvFuH8SJaay/reflecting-on-the-last-year-lessons-for-ea-opening-keynote Good summary https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/M9AEBt7zMQzqiES7E/link-luke-muehlhauser-effective-altruism-as-i-see-it Random thoughts: - EA memes should fail gracefully Potential angles of criticism: - Ethics and the limits of impartiality - Metaphysical moral realism is probably false - Deep pragmatism is underrated - Too much theory to practice, not enough practice to theory. - https://twitter.com/VitalikButerin/status/1590473516482465792?t=EJmp5DGdeUDdEsXHY71vWw&s=19 - C.f. [[List of best criticisms of effective altruism]] One liners: - (BT) Effective altruism is the search for the best ways to help the common good. - (PH BT*) Effective altruism is the search for the best ways to further the common good. - (PH BT*) Effective altruism is the search for the best ways to build a better society. - (PH BT*) Effective altruism is the search for the best ways to build a better world. - (PH BT*) Effective altruism is the search for the very best ways to build a better world. - (PH BT*) Effective altruism is the search for the best ways to help people, animals, and other moral patients. - (PH BT*) Effective altruism is the search for the best ways to help others. - (PH BT*) Effective altruism is the search for the best ways to help others flourish. - - (PH BT*) Effective altruism is the search for the best ways to build a better society, and taking action—especially through career choice and donations—on that basis - (HK) Effective altruism is the practice of using evidence and reason to determine how to do as much good as possible, and taking action - especially via career choice and donations - on that basis. - (PH HK*) Effective altruism involves careful thought about how to do as much good as possible, and taking action—especially via career choice and donations—on that basis. - (PH BT*) Effective altruism involves the search for the best ways to contribute to the common good, and taking action—especially via career choice and donations—on that basis. - (PH) Effective altruism is careful thought about how to make a big contribution to the common good. - (PH) Effective altruism involves careful thought about how to contribute to the common good. - (PH) Effective altruism is the search for the best ways to contribute to the common good, and taking action—especially via career choice and donations—on that basis. - (PH) Effective altruism is the search for unusally high impact ways to promote the common good. and taking action—especially via career choice and donations—on that basis. ## Principles of EA, according to PH ### TheZvi summary https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/qjMPATBLM5p4ABcEB/criticism-of-ea-criticism-contest Effective Altruism has a core set of assumptions, and a core method of modeling and acting in the world. The core critique I am offering is that the contest is mostly taking things like the list below as givens, rather than as things to be questioned. 1. Utilitarianism. Alternatives are considered at best to be mistakes. 2. Importance of Suffering. Suffering is The Bad. Happiness/pleasure is The Good. 3. Quantification. Emphasis on that which can be seen and measured. 4. Bureaucracy. Distribution of funds via organizational grants and applications. 5. Scope Sensitivity. Shut up and multiply, two are twice as good as one. 6. Intentionality. You should to plan your life around the impact it will have. 7. Effectiveness. Do what works. The goal is to cut the enemy. 8. Altruism. The best way to do good yourself is to act selflessly to do good. 9. Obligation. We owe the future quite a lot, arguably everything. 10. Coordination. Working together is more effective than cultivating competition. 11. Selflessness. You shouldn’t value yourself, locals or family more than others. 12. Self-Recommending. Belief in the movement and methods themselves. 13. Evangelicalism. Belief that it is good to convert others and add resources to EA. 14. Reputation. EA should optimize largely for EA’s reputation. 15. Modesty. Non-neglected topics can be safely ignored, often consensus trusted. 16. Existential Risk. Wiping out all value in the universe is really, really bad. 17. Sacrifice. Important to set a good example, and to not waste resources. 18. Judgment. Not living up to this list is morally bad. Also sort of like murder. 19. Veganism. If you are not vegan many EAs treat you as non-serious (or even evil). 20. Grace. In practice people can’t live up to this list fully and that’s acceptable. 21. Totalization. Things outside the framework are considered to have no value. https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/topics/criticism-of-effective-altruism Criticisms: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/qjMPATBLM5p4ABcEB/criticism-of-ea-criticism-contest https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/topics/criticism-of-effective-altruism https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3995225 https://www.academia.edu/13786913/Whats_Wrong_With_Effective_Altruism https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/guyuidDdxNNxFegbJ/the-totalitarian-implications-of-effective-altruism-1 -- I left some comments on this one. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noblesse_oblige https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/czggzS72qsDsCGahg/bryan-caplan-on-ea-groups https://edtalks.substack.com/p/the-totalitarian-implications-of?s=w https://www.overcomingbias.com/2019/09/dreamtime-games.html Paying more for results would feel to most people like having to invite less suave and lower class engineers or apartment sups to your swanky parties because they are useful as associates. Or having to switch from dating hip hunky Tinder dudes to reliable practical guys with steady jobs. In status terms, that all feels less like admiring prestige and more like submitting to domination, which is a forager no-no. Paying for results is the sort of thing that poor practical people have to do, not rich prestigious folks like you. Of course our society is full of social situations where practical people get enough rewards to keep them doing practical things. So that the world actually works. People sometimes try to kill such things, but then they suffer badly and learn to stop. But most folks who express interest in social reforms seem to care more about projecting their grand hopes and ideals, relative to making stuff work better. Strong emotional support for efficiency-driven reform must come from those who have deeply felt the sting of inefficiency.