First, it seems that FTX would like to spend a lot more a lot faster than has been the EA consensus for a long time. … It also strikes against recent work on patient philanthropy, which is supported by Will MacAskill’s argument that we are not living in the most influential time in human history.
In addition, the arguments for not living in the most influential time in human history are rejected by many EAs, as you can see in the discussion section of MacAskill’s orginal article and here.
(In general, I think it’s legitimate even for very large organizations to bet on a particular worldview, especially if they’re being transparent to donors and supporters.)
(That said, I want to note that “spend money now” is very different from “have a low bar.” I haven’t looked into FTX grants yet, but I want to flag that while I’m in favor of deploying capital now, I wouldn’t necessarily lower the bar. Instead, I’d aggressively fund active grantmaking and investigations into large grants in areas where EAs haven’t been active yet.)
Appreciate and agree with both of these comments. I’ve made a brief update to the original post to reflect it, and hope to respond in more detail soon.
I don’t think fast spending in and of itself strikes against patient longtermism: see Owen-Cotton-Barratt’s post “Patient vs urgent longtermism” has little direct bearing on giving now vs later.
In addition, the arguments for not living in the most influential time in human history are rejected by many EAs, as you can see in the discussion section of MacAskill’s orginal article and here.
(In general, I think it’s legitimate even for very large organizations to bet on a particular worldview, especially if they’re being transparent to donors and supporters.)
(That said, I want to note that “spend money now” is very different from “have a low bar.” I haven’t looked into FTX grants yet, but I want to flag that while I’m in favor of deploying capital now, I wouldn’t necessarily lower the bar. Instead, I’d aggressively fund active grantmaking and investigations into large grants in areas where EAs haven’t been active yet.)
Appreciate and agree with both of these comments. I’ve made a brief update to the original post to reflect it, and hope to respond in more detail soon.