Thanks for posting such a considered reply. I think I understand where you’re coming from much better now.
I read the Julia Wise article you linked, and thought it made a lot of sense. I don’t see any point in feeling bad when we spend our time or money on things that aren’t optimised to reduce suffering.
I’m certainly no perfect utilitarian robot myself, I just think that I should be. But I don’t feel bad that I’m not, and I don’t think I should feel bad.
Reading it again, I think my original reply was too prescriptive, I was probably trying to answer a question that you weren’t asking. At the same time, I still believe that you “shouldn’t” donate to charities that aren’t the most effective ones and that if you were to change your mind and put that money towards e.g. the Against Malaria Foundation, it would be the “right” thing to do, or a “better” thing to do.
So yeah, sorry for seeming preachy. I 100% don’t think you should ever feel bad for supporting a charitable cause, there’s enough things to worry about without adding that one.
Thanks for posting such a considered reply. I think I understand where you’re coming from much better now.
I read the Julia Wise article you linked, and thought it made a lot of sense. I don’t see any point in feeling bad when we spend our time or money on things that aren’t optimised to reduce suffering.
I’m certainly no perfect utilitarian robot myself, I just think that I should be. But I don’t feel bad that I’m not, and I don’t think I should feel bad.
Reading it again, I think my original reply was too prescriptive, I was probably trying to answer a question that you weren’t asking. At the same time, I still believe that you “shouldn’t” donate to charities that aren’t the most effective ones and that if you were to change your mind and put that money towards e.g. the Against Malaria Foundation, it would be the “right” thing to do, or a “better” thing to do.
So yeah, sorry for seeming preachy. I 100% don’t think you should ever feel bad for supporting a charitable cause, there’s enough things to worry about without adding that one.