Most people in EA don’t discount the future much, if at all.
In the latest EA Survey (from 2020, admittedly), global poverty (not a longtermist cause) still ranked as the top cause among respondents. I personally find analyses that compare economic growth to global health interventions in terms of short-term impact valuable for people prioritizing within the global poverty cause area.
Prioritising global poverty doesn’t necessarily mean you discount the future. You might prioritise it because you don’t think the leading longtermist interventions are tractable or for other reasons e.g. population ethics.
I personally don’t find just considering short-term impact to be helpful but appreciate others disagree.
I don’t think this is true:
In the latest EA Survey (from 2020, admittedly), global poverty (not a longtermist cause) still ranked as the top cause among respondents. I personally find analyses that compare economic growth to global health interventions in terms of short-term impact valuable for people prioritizing within the global poverty cause area.
Prioritising global poverty doesn’t necessarily mean you discount the future. You might prioritise it because you don’t think the leading longtermist interventions are tractable or for other reasons e.g. population ethics.
I personally don’t find just considering short-term impact to be helpful but appreciate others disagree.