To develop the effective altruist movement, it’s essential that we ask people how we’ve failed, or how our ideas are inadequate.
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So an important challenge for all of us is to find better critics.
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Let me know if there’s any big criticism that I’ve missed, or if you know someone who can engage with an poke holes in our ideas.
On the important challenge of finding better critics, my personal strategy is going to be to seek a greater quantity of critics. My rationale for this is that we won’t know which criticism(s) is or are the best until they’re received, so it’s worth courting many critics to widen the net of criticism effective altruism receives. I don’t intend to seek as many critics as possible, broadcasting the request as publicly as possible across my social networks, because that seems to be casting a net so wide as to attract poor criticism. However, if there is someone I know who expresses, or has previously expressed, a perspective on effective altruism, even a negative one, I will invite them to generate a criticism of effective altruism.
This still seems like a strategy that will bring in poor criticisms. However, I believe an aversion to courting more criticism rather than less is the same attitude that’s led to effective altruism thinking it’s received too little criticism in the first place. If effective altruism receives more poor criticisms, its not anything the movement can’t bear. Honestly, I perceive it difficult to believe anyone who might make great effort to criticize effective altruism sincerely could report something of much lesser quality than the worst drivel effective altruism has already received. Also, it seems biased, disingenuous, and hypocritical to seek more critics, but pick and choose specific critics we might like more in particular.
On the important challenge of finding better critics, my personal strategy is going to be to seek a greater quantity of critics. My rationale for this is that we won’t know which criticism(s) is or are the best until they’re received, so it’s worth courting many critics to widen the net of criticism effective altruism receives. I don’t intend to seek as many critics as possible, broadcasting the request as publicly as possible across my social networks, because that seems to be casting a net so wide as to attract poor criticism. However, if there is someone I know who expresses, or has previously expressed, a perspective on effective altruism, even a negative one, I will invite them to generate a criticism of effective altruism.
This still seems like a strategy that will bring in poor criticisms. However, I believe an aversion to courting more criticism rather than less is the same attitude that’s led to effective altruism thinking it’s received too little criticism in the first place. If effective altruism receives more poor criticisms, its not anything the movement can’t bear. Honestly, I perceive it difficult to believe anyone who might make great effort to criticize effective altruism sincerely could report something of much lesser quality than the worst drivel effective altruism has already received. Also, it seems biased, disingenuous, and hypocritical to seek more critics, but pick and choose specific critics we might like more in particular.