Yeah it’s confusing because the general description is very vague: do the most good in the world. EAs are often reluctant to be more specific than that. But in practice EAs tend to make arguments from a utilitarian perspective, and the cause areas have been well-defined for a long time: GiveWell recommended charities (typically global health), existential risk (particularly AI), factory farming, and self-improvement (e.g. CFAR). There’s nothing terribly wrong with these causes, but I’ve become interested in violence and poor governance in the developing world. EA just doesn’t have much to offer there.
EA is an evolving movement, but the reasons for prioritizing violence and poor governance in the developing world seem weak. It’s certainly altruistic and the amount of suffering it addresses is enormous. However, the world is in such a sad state of affairs, that I don’t think such a complex and unexplored will compete with charities addressing basic needs like alleviating poverty or even OpenPhil’s current agenda of prison reform and factory farm suffering. That said, you could start the exploring. Isn’t that how the other causes became mainstream within the EA movement?
I’d be happy if the EA movement became interested in this, just as I’d be happy if the Democratic Party did. But my point was, the label EA means nothing to me. I follow my own views, and it doesn’t matter to me what this community thinks of it. Just as you’re free to follow your own views, regardless of EA.
Yeah it’s confusing because the general description is very vague: do the most good in the world. EAs are often reluctant to be more specific than that. But in practice EAs tend to make arguments from a utilitarian perspective, and the cause areas have been well-defined for a long time: GiveWell recommended charities (typically global health), existential risk (particularly AI), factory farming, and self-improvement (e.g. CFAR). There’s nothing terribly wrong with these causes, but I’ve become interested in violence and poor governance in the developing world. EA just doesn’t have much to offer there.
EA is an evolving movement, but the reasons for prioritizing violence and poor governance in the developing world seem weak. It’s certainly altruistic and the amount of suffering it addresses is enormous. However, the world is in such a sad state of affairs, that I don’t think such a complex and unexplored will compete with charities addressing basic needs like alleviating poverty or even OpenPhil’s current agenda of prison reform and factory farm suffering. That said, you could start the exploring. Isn’t that how the other causes became mainstream within the EA movement?
I’d be happy if the EA movement became interested in this, just as I’d be happy if the Democratic Party did. But my point was, the label EA means nothing to me. I follow my own views, and it doesn’t matter to me what this community thinks of it. Just as you’re free to follow your own views, regardless of EA.