What does Effective Altruism look like if it is successful?
Ideally, a very well-coordinated group that acts like a single, rational wise, EA-aligned agent. (Rather than a poorly coordinated set of individuals who compete for resources and status by unilaterally doing/publishing impressive, risky things related to anthropogenic x-risks, while being subject to severe conflicts of interest).
Strongly disagree—groups of people aren’t single agents. Worse, historically, deciding that the goal of a movement should be chosen even if it turns out that it is fundamentally incompatible with human, economic, and other motives leads to horrific things.
I agree. But that doesn’t mean that the level of coordination and the influence of conflicts of interest in EA are not extremely important factors to consider/optimize.
deciding that the goal of a movement should be chosen even if it turns out that it is fundamentally incompatible with human, economic, and other motives leads to horrific things.
I’m not sure what exactly we disagree on. I think we agree that it’s extremely important to appreciate that [humans tend to behave in a way that is aligned with their local incentives] when considering meta interventions related to anthropogenic x-risks and EA.
Ideally, a very well-coordinated group that acts like a single,
rationalwise, EA-aligned agent. (Rather than a poorly coordinated set of individuals who compete for resources and status by unilaterally doing/publishing impressive, risky things related to anthropogenic x-risks, while being subject to severe conflicts of interest).Strongly disagree—groups of people aren’t single agents. Worse, historically, deciding that the goal of a movement should be chosen even if it turns out that it is fundamentally incompatible with human, economic, and other motives leads to horrific things.
I agree. But that doesn’t mean that the level of coordination and the influence of conflicts of interest in EA are not extremely important factors to consider/optimize.
Can you explain this point further?
Yes, coordination is good, and should be considered. But I don’t think that a well-coordinated groups can or should look anything like a single agent.
Communism was really pretty bad, as were many other movements with strong views about what should happen and little attention paid to humans.
I’m not sure what exactly we disagree on. I think we agree that it’s extremely important to appreciate that [humans tend to behave in a way that is aligned with their local incentives] when considering meta interventions related to anthropogenic x-risks and EA.