I agree that EA shouldn’t be defined by any particular conclusions about how to do the most good. But in addition to the question, there is also a methodology that goes along with it:
Impartiality or cosmopolitanism—that is to say, that everyone is (close to) equally important, and non-humans deserve some weight as well
A willingness to consider and compare all options in a open-minded way
Epistemic humility—we shouldn’t assume our conclusions are better than others, and so it is important to...
Use evidence and reason in an attempt to be persuasive to others.
Then we should also be willing to act on the above rather than ignore it. These certainly aren’t new ideas, but rather the application of approaches from the enlightenment, natural sciences and social science (at least when done well) to altruistic endeavours.
I agree that ‘effective altruist’ is an awkward term that is unintentionally self-aggrandising, but I use it for lack of a better alternative. ‘Aspiring effective altruists’, or ‘members of the effective altruist community’, might be better.
This is a great comment. If I were to rewrite this post now, I would make sure to include these.
Also, going back to a conversation with you: if I were to rewrite, I would also try to make it clearer that I’m not trying to give a formal definition of Effective Altruism (which is what it sounds like in the post), just trying to change the feeling or connotations around it, and how we think about it.
I agree that EA shouldn’t be defined by any particular conclusions about how to do the most good. But in addition to the question, there is also a methodology that goes along with it:
Impartiality or cosmopolitanism—that is to say, that everyone is (close to) equally important, and non-humans deserve some weight as well
A willingness to consider and compare all options in a open-minded way
Epistemic humility—we shouldn’t assume our conclusions are better than others, and so it is important to...
Use evidence and reason in an attempt to be persuasive to others.
Then we should also be willing to act on the above rather than ignore it. These certainly aren’t new ideas, but rather the application of approaches from the enlightenment, natural sciences and social science (at least when done well) to altruistic endeavours.
I agree that ‘effective altruist’ is an awkward term that is unintentionally self-aggrandising, but I use it for lack of a better alternative. ‘Aspiring effective altruists’, or ‘members of the effective altruist community’, might be better.
This is a great comment. If I were to rewrite this post now, I would make sure to include these.
Also, going back to a conversation with you: if I were to rewrite, I would also try to make it clearer that I’m not trying to give a formal definition of Effective Altruism (which is what it sounds like in the post), just trying to change the feeling or connotations around it, and how we think about it.