Though I find alot of EA writing to be basically a different dialect (eg ‘Overton window...’) and difficult to read this article seems fairly well written and complete (though often its easy to miss some important issues for complex topics). Theoretical genetics and evolutionary theory are among my pet interests though I am not employed in the field.
But i basically support the precautionary principal so I would not ‘cause prioritize’ genetic enhancement at present any more than I think going to and colonizing Mars or developing a ‘superintelligence’ is a priority. I view these as causes worth thinking about and perhaps working on—and many people are already doing that—but they do not take priority over other causes in my view. If EA is about ‘doing the greatest good’ I would place many of my bets on other causes. (Also given the intricacies of genetics, its very possible alot of research and money can be wasted on things that basically do not turn out to be effective—they just become big money sinks for people with vested interests in their narrow interests.)
In fact i would say learning and studying (or doing research in) theoretical genetics and evolution , and also getting many more people in the population interested in practicing that to be a greater priority. (This may be partly my bias—I’m not interested in policy work promoting this cause (i don’t like most policy work, unless its more like doing reseach) and I don’t want to work in genetic or other labs.)
I similarily don’t see promoting new advanced weapons developement in Federal agencies as a priority because many of the people who would decide how to use them i don’t have confidence in—their judgement or competency.
Despite my views, I know alot of people will prioritize this cause and already do, and crowd out resourcces for what i think are more cost effective projects.
(The link to the paper blog on how more intelligent people tend to be more tolerant/less discriminitary is interestng though i think issue is also very complex—and I might dispute it because ‘underspecified’ (there are lots of forms of discriminatory attitudes ). However the author of that blog does have another one on another cause ‘Universal Basic income’ --his paper is very interesting , and UBI as a cause I think may rank above genetic enhancement—but is an equally complex issue (i.e. just handing out money could be as disastrous as giving geneticists huge budgets to design the future).
[...] UBI as a cause I think may rank above genetic enhancement [...]
I would counter that genetic enhancement would be the only cause that could address the root problem—the biology of suffering itself. Environmental interventions, in contrast, are ultimately limited by the “hedonic treadmill” effect (that is not to say, of course, that the worst cases like factory farming and extreme poverty should not be solved ASAP).
Though I find alot of EA writing to be basically a different dialect (eg ‘Overton window...’) and difficult to read this article seems fairly well written and complete (though often its easy to miss some important issues for complex topics). Theoretical genetics and evolutionary theory are among my pet interests though I am not employed in the field.
But i basically support the precautionary principal so I would not ‘cause prioritize’ genetic enhancement at present any more than I think going to and colonizing Mars or developing a ‘superintelligence’ is a priority. I view these as causes worth thinking about and perhaps working on—and many people are already doing that—but they do not take priority over other causes in my view. If EA is about ‘doing the greatest good’ I would place many of my bets on other causes. (Also given the intricacies of genetics, its very possible alot of research and money can be wasted on things that basically do not turn out to be effective—they just become big money sinks for people with vested interests in their narrow interests.)
In fact i would say learning and studying (or doing research in) theoretical genetics and evolution , and also getting many more people in the population interested in practicing that to be a greater priority. (This may be partly my bias—I’m not interested in policy work promoting this cause (i don’t like most policy work, unless its more like doing reseach) and I don’t want to work in genetic or other labs.)
I similarily don’t see promoting new advanced weapons developement in Federal agencies as a priority because many of the people who would decide how to use them i don’t have confidence in—their judgement or competency.
Despite my views, I know alot of people will prioritize this cause and already do, and crowd out resourcces for what i think are more cost effective projects.
(The link to the paper blog on how more intelligent people tend to be more tolerant/less discriminitary is interestng though i think issue is also very complex—and I might dispute it because ‘underspecified’ (there are lots of forms of discriminatory attitudes ). However the author of that blog does have another one on another cause ‘Universal Basic income’ --his paper is very interesting , and UBI as a cause I think may rank above genetic enhancement—but is an equally complex issue (i.e. just handing out money could be as disastrous as giving geneticists huge budgets to design the future).
I would counter that genetic enhancement would be the only cause that could address the root problem—the biology of suffering itself. Environmental interventions, in contrast, are ultimately limited by the “hedonic treadmill” effect (that is not to say, of course, that the worst cases like factory farming and extreme poverty should not be solved ASAP).