While EA called itself “effective”, we rarely see its effects, because the biggest effects are supposed to happen in the remote future, remote countries and be statistical.
EA pumps resources from near to far: to distant countries, to a distant future, to other beings. At the same time, the volume of the “far” is always greater than the volume of the near, that is, the pumping will never stop and therefore the good of the “neighbours” will never come. And this causes a deaf protest from the general public, which already feels that it has been robbed by taxes and so on.
Generating legible utility is far more costly than generating illegible utility, because people compete to generate legible utility in order to jockey for status. If your goal is to generate utility, to hell with status, then the utility you generate will likely be illegible.
But sometimes helping a neighbour is cheaper than helping a distant person, because we have unique knowledge and opportunities in our inner circle.
If you help your neighbor, he is likely to feel grateful, elevating your status in the local community. Additionally, he would be more likely to help you out if you were ever down on your luck. I’m sure that nobody would ever try to rationalize this ulterior motive under the guise of altruism.
When I tell people that have reminded a driver to look at a pedestrian ahead and probably saved that pedestrian, people generally react negatively, saying something like the driver will see the pedestrian anyway eventually, but my crazy reaction could have distracted him.
Also, once I almost pull a girl back to safety from a street where a SUV was ready to hit her—and she does’t not even call my on my birthdays! So helping neighbours doesn’t give status in my experience.
true altruism vs. ulterior motive for social gain as you mention here, as well as legible vs. illegible above...I am less cynical than some people...I often receive from people only imagining they seek my good...and I do for others truly only seeking their good...usually...the side benefits that accrue occasionally in a community are an echo of goodness coming back to you...of course people have a spectrum of motivations, some seek the good, some the echo...but both are beneficial so who cares? Good doing shouldn’t get hung up on motivations, they are trivial...I think they are mostly a personal internal transaction...you may be happier inside if you are less self seeking at your core...but we all have our needs and are evolving.
Generating legible utility is far more costly than generating illegible utility, because people compete to generate legible utility in order to jockey for status. If your goal is to generate utility, to hell with status, then the utility you generate will likely be illegible.
If you help your neighbor, he is likely to feel grateful, elevating your status in the local community. Additionally, he would be more likely to help you out if you were ever down on your luck. I’m sure that nobody would ever try to rationalize this ulterior motive under the guise of altruism.
When I tell people that have reminded a driver to look at a pedestrian ahead and probably saved that pedestrian, people generally react negatively, saying something like the driver will see the pedestrian anyway eventually, but my crazy reaction could have distracted him.
Also, once I almost pull a girl back to safety from a street where a SUV was ready to hit her—and she does’t not even call my on my birthdays! So helping neighbours doesn’t give status in my experience.
true altruism vs. ulterior motive for social gain as you mention here, as well as legible vs. illegible above...I am less cynical than some people...I often receive from people only imagining they seek my good...and I do for others truly only seeking their good...usually...the side benefits that accrue occasionally in a community are an echo of goodness coming back to you...of course people have a spectrum of motivations, some seek the good, some the echo...but both are beneficial so who cares? Good doing shouldn’t get hung up on motivations, they are trivial...I think they are mostly a personal internal transaction...you may be happier inside if you are less self seeking at your core...but we all have our needs and are evolving.