Side note from main discussion: I really really dislike this phrase. It seems to crop up whenever anyone in the EA/rationality-adjacent space wants to handwave that their pet cause area is underappreciated but can’t provide any good reason for the claim—which is exactly what you might imagine a priori that such a phrase should get used for.
EA and ~The System~ is a perfect case in point. Leftists think EA should aim to change the system to be more left, rightists think EA should change it to be more right, or at least actively resist leftist change, and Scott Alexander observes (correctly, IMO) that ‘if everyone gave 10% of their income to effective charity, it would be more than enough to end world poverty, cure several major diseases, and start a cultural and scientific renaissance. If everyone became very interested in systemic change, we would probably have a civil war.’
Putting the word ‘bias’ after a concept is not a reasonable way of criticising that concept.
Side note from main discussion: I really really dislike this phrase. It seems to crop up whenever anyone in the EA/rationality-adjacent space wants to handwave that their pet cause area is underappreciated but can’t provide any good reason for the claim—which is exactly what you might imagine a priori that such a phrase should get used for.
EA and ~The System~ is a perfect case in point. Leftists think EA should aim to change the system to be more left, rightists think EA should change it to be more right, or at least actively resist leftist change, and Scott Alexander observes (correctly, IMO) that ‘if everyone gave 10% of their income to effective charity, it would be more than enough to end world poverty, cure several major diseases, and start a cultural and scientific renaissance. If everyone became very interested in systemic change, we would probably have a civil war.’
Putting the word ‘bias’ after a concept is not a reasonable way of criticising that concept.