A couple thoughts so far, written at 3am so hopefully at least somewhat clear:
The post isn’t short :)
Another bias is in favour of technocracy over democracy. “Impact is calculated through careful analysis, and this analysis can be done by anyone, so the recipients do not need to govern it or give inputs to it.” I do not mean by this that anyone in EA would stand behind this quote as written (though some might), but rather that we’re biased in this direction.
These biases can be viewed through more than one lens: on the other hand, this is what a newcomer should expect to currently find in EA circles; on the other hand they aren’t sacred, and do not automatically follow from EA principles. Nor are they rigourously argued for. It is rather that no arguments have been put forward convincing enough to move people against them. In other words, they may change, and we can work to change them if we don’t like them, as long as we show changing them will help.
Another kind of “bias” that probably is a core part of EA is pragmatism: projects and ideas have to be assessed on how much they contribute to the end goal (whichever it may be: utility, equity, beauty, etc.) - adopting one part of a theory (or political ideology) does not mean all the rest have to be adopted too.
A couple thoughts so far, written at 3am so hopefully at least somewhat clear:
The post isn’t short :)
Another bias is in favour of technocracy over democracy. “Impact is calculated through careful analysis, and this analysis can be done by anyone, so the recipients do not need to govern it or give inputs to it.” I do not mean by this that anyone in EA would stand behind this quote as written (though some might), but rather that we’re biased in this direction.
These biases can be viewed through more than one lens: on the other hand, this is what a newcomer should expect to currently find in EA circles; on the other hand they aren’t sacred, and do not automatically follow from EA principles. Nor are they rigourously argued for. It is rather that no arguments have been put forward convincing enough to move people against them. In other words, they may change, and we can work to change them if we don’t like them, as long as we show changing them will help.
Another kind of “bias” that probably is a core part of EA is pragmatism: projects and ideas have to be assessed on how much they contribute to the end goal (whichever it may be: utility, equity, beauty, etc.) - adopting one part of a theory (or political ideology) does not mean all the rest have to be adopted too.