I agree, and I’d add that what I see as one of the key ideas of effective altruism, that people should give substantially more than is typical, is harder to get off the ground in this framework. Singer’s pond example, for all its flaws, makes the case for giving a lot quite salient, in a way that I don’t think general considerations about maximizing the impact of your philanthropy in the long term are going to.
That’s true, though you can just present the best short-run thing as a compelling lower bound rather than an all considered answer to what maximizes your impact.
I agree, and I’d add that what I see as one of the key ideas of effective altruism, that people should give substantially more than is typical, is harder to get off the ground in this framework. Singer’s pond example, for all its flaws, makes the case for giving a lot quite salient, in a way that I don’t think general considerations about maximizing the impact of your philanthropy in the long term are going to.
That’s true, though you can just present the best short-run thing as a compelling lower bound rather than an all considered answer to what maximizes your impact.