I’ve chosen this question because Marcus A. Davis’s Forum post, featured in this month’s newsletter, raises this difficult question: if we are uncertain about our fundamental philosophical assumptions, how can we prioritise between causes?
There is no neutral position. If we want to do something, we have to first focus on a cause. And the difference between the importance and tractability of one cause and another is likely to be the largest determinant of the impact we have.
And yet, cause-prioritisation decisions often reach a philosophical quagmire. What should we do? How do you personally deal with this difficulty?
July ’25 EA Newsletter Poll
This poll was linked in the July edition of the Effective Altruism Newsletter.
I’ve chosen this question because Marcus A. Davis’s Forum post, featured in this month’s newsletter, raises this difficult question: if we are uncertain about our fundamental philosophical assumptions, how can we prioritise between causes?
There is no neutral position. If we want to do something, we have to first focus on a cause. And the difference between the importance and tractability of one cause and another is likely to be the largest determinant of the impact we have.
And yet, cause-prioritisation decisions often reach a philosophical quagmire. What should we do? How do you personally deal with this difficulty?