“Hey SF-based techies I wrote your resolutions for you: - Delete ride-hailing and food-delivery apps - Learn 3 bus lines - Walk the Crosstown Trail - Google who your Supervisor is - Volunteer with your time, not your skills - Pick a cause that is not effective altruism”
Another user replied: “What’s effective altruism, and what’s wrong with it?”
From @nonmayorpete: “I’ll let you look it up. It’s a completely fair topic to be interested in but it conveniently lets high-income people justify not getting their hands dirty in literally anything”
Other tweets of Pete aren’t as negative on EA as that one, and Luke Freeman from GWWC and Aaron Gertler from CEA have both responded to the thread to try correcting his view. But it still shows how low-resolution and negative people’s perception of EA can be.
Interesting about the idea that EA let’s people off the moral hook easily: ‘I’m rich so I just donate and I’ve done my moral duty and get to virtue signal’
It’s interesting how that applies to people who are wealthy, work a conventional job, and donate 10% to charities, but doesn’t seem like a valid criticism against those who donate way more like 50%+. That normally seems to be met with the response “wow that’s impressive self sacrifice!”. Same with those who might drastically shift their career
It might be that SF has more people who are kinda into EA such that they donate 10% to givewell, diluting out the people who are representative of more extreme self sacrifice
Here’s one in a thread I saw on Twitter from @nonmayorpete. This tweet got 1,600 likes:
“Hey SF-based techies I wrote your resolutions for you:
- Delete ride-hailing and food-delivery apps
- Learn 3 bus lines
- Walk the Crosstown Trail
- Google who your Supervisor is
- Volunteer with your time, not your skills
- Pick a cause that is not effective altruism”
Another user replied: “What’s effective altruism, and what’s wrong with it?”
From @nonmayorpete: “I’ll let you look it up. It’s a completely fair topic to be interested in but it conveniently lets high-income people justify not getting their hands dirty in literally anything”
Other tweets of Pete aren’t as negative on EA as that one, and Luke Freeman from GWWC and Aaron Gertler from CEA have both responded to the thread to try correcting his view. But it still shows how low-resolution and negative people’s perception of EA can be.
Interesting about the idea that EA let’s people off the moral hook easily: ‘I’m rich so I just donate and I’ve done my moral duty and get to virtue signal’
It’s interesting how that applies to people who are wealthy, work a conventional job, and donate 10% to charities, but doesn’t seem like a valid criticism against those who donate way more like 50%+. That normally seems to be met with the response “wow that’s impressive self sacrifice!”. Same with those who might drastically shift their career
There’s a lot to unpack in that tweet. I think something is going on like:
fighting about who is really the most virtuous
being upset people aren’t more focused on the things you think are important
being upset that people claim status by doing things you can’t or won’t do
being jealous people are doing good doing things you aren’t/can’t/won’t do
virtue signaling
righteous indignation
spillover of culture war stuff going on in SF
None of it looks like a real criticism of EA, but rather of lots of other things EA just happens to be adjacent to.
Doesn’t mean it doesn’t have to be addressed or isn’t an issue, but I think also worth keeping these kinds of criticisms in context.
It might be that SF has more people who are kinda into EA such that they donate 10% to givewell, diluting out the people who are representative of more extreme self sacrifice