I’m not that surprised that the above comment has been downvoted to −4 without any replies (and this one will probably buried by an even bigger avalanche of downvotes!), but it still makes me sad. EA will be ivory-tower-ing until the bitter end it seems. It’s a form of avoidance. These things aren’t nice to think about. But it’s close now, so it’s reasonable for it to feel viscerally real. I guess it won’t be EA that saves us (from the mess it helped accelerate), if we do end up saved.
acknowledges the value of x-risk reduction in general from a non-longtermist perspective
clarifies that it is making a point about the marginal altruistic value of x-risk vs AW or GHW work and points to a post making this argument in more detail
Your response merely reiterates that x-risk prevention has substantial altruistic (and non-altruistic) value. This isn’t responsive to the claim about whether, under non-longtermist assumptions, that value is greater on the margin than AW or GHW work.
So even though I actually agree with the claims in your comment, I downvoted it (along with this one complaining about the downvotes) for being off-topic and not embodying the type of discourse I think the EA Forum should strive for.
Whilst zdgroff’s comment “acknowledges the value of x-risk reduction in general from a non-longtermist perspective” it downplays it quite heavily imo (and the OP comment does even more, using the pejorative “fanatical”).
I don’t think the linked post makes the point very persuasively. Looking at the table, at best there is an equivalence.
I think a rough estimate of the cost effectiveness of pushing for a Pause is orders of magnitude higher.
I’m not that surprised that the above comment has been downvoted to −4 without any replies (and this one will probably buried by an even bigger avalanche of downvotes!), but it still makes me sad. EA will be ivory-tower-ing until the bitter end it seems. It’s a form of avoidance. These things aren’t nice to think about. But it’s close now, so it’s reasonable for it to feel viscerally real. I guess it won’t be EA that saves us (from the mess it helped accelerate), if we do end up saved.
The comment you replied to
acknowledges the value of x-risk reduction in general from a non-longtermist perspective
clarifies that it is making a point about the marginal altruistic value of x-risk vs AW or GHW work and points to a post making this argument in more detail
Your response merely reiterates that x-risk prevention has substantial altruistic (and non-altruistic) value. This isn’t responsive to the claim about whether, under non-longtermist assumptions, that value is greater on the margin than AW or GHW work.
So even though I actually agree with the claims in your comment, I downvoted it (along with this one complaining about the downvotes) for being off-topic and not embodying the type of discourse I think the EA Forum should strive for.
Thanks for the explanation.
Whilst zdgroff’s comment “acknowledges the value of x-risk reduction in general from a non-longtermist perspective” it downplays it quite heavily imo (and the OP comment does even more, using the pejorative “fanatical”).
I don’t think the linked post makes the point very persuasively. Looking at the table, at best there is an equivalence.
I think a rough estimate of the cost effectiveness of pushing for a Pause is orders of magnitude higher.
You don’t need EAs Greg—you’ve got the general public!