I’m not quite sure about the idea that we should have certain demanding norms because they are costly signals of altruism. It seems to me that the main reason to have demanding norms isn’t that they are costly signals, but rather that they are directly impactful. For instance, I think that the norm that we should admit that we’re wrong is a good one, but primarily because it’s directly impactful. If we don’t admit that we’re wrong, then there’s a risk we continue pursuing failed projects even as we get strong evidence that they have failed. So having a norm that counteracts our natural tendency not to want to admit when we’re wrong seems good.
Relatedly, and in line with your reasoning, I think that effective altruism should be more demanding in terms of epistemics than in terms of material resources. Again, that’s not because that’s a better costly signal, but rather because better epistemics likely makes a greater impact difference than extreme material sacrifices do. I developed these ideas here; see also our paper on real-world virtues for utilitarians.
This post is great, thanks for writing it.
I’m not quite sure about the idea that we should have certain demanding norms because they are costly signals of altruism. It seems to me that the main reason to have demanding norms isn’t that they are costly signals, but rather that they are directly impactful. For instance, I think that the norm that we should admit that we’re wrong is a good one, but primarily because it’s directly impactful. If we don’t admit that we’re wrong, then there’s a risk we continue pursuing failed projects even as we get strong evidence that they have failed. So having a norm that counteracts our natural tendency not to want to admit when we’re wrong seems good.
Relatedly, and in line with your reasoning, I think that effective altruism should be more demanding in terms of epistemics than in terms of material resources. Again, that’s not because that’s a better costly signal, but rather because better epistemics likely makes a greater impact difference than extreme material sacrifices do. I developed these ideas here; see also our paper on real-world virtues for utilitarians.