I was overall a bit negative on Sarah’s post, because it demanded a bit too much attention, (e.g. the title), and seemed somewhat polemic. It was definitely interesting, and I learned some things.
I find the most evocative bit to be the idea that EA treats outsiders as “marks”. This strikes me as somewhat true, and sadly short-sighted WRT movement building.
I do believe in the ideas of EA, and I think they are compelling enough that they can become mainstream.
Overall, though, I think it’s just plain wrong to argue for an unexamined idea of honesty as some unquestionable ideal. I think doing so as a consequentialist, without a very strong justification, itself smacks of disingenuousness and seems motivated by the same phony and manipulative attitude towards PR that Sarah’s article attacks.
What would be more interesting to me would be a thoughtful survey of potential EA perspectives on honesty, but an honest treatment of the subject does seem to be risky from a PR standpoint. And it’s not clear that it would bring enough benefit to justify the cost. We probably will all just end up agreeing with common moral intuitions.
I was overall a bit negative on Sarah’s post, because it demanded a bit too much attention, (e.g. the title), and seemed somewhat polemic. It was definitely interesting, and I learned some things.
I find the most evocative bit to be the idea that EA treats outsiders as “marks”.
This strikes me as somewhat true, and sadly short-sighted WRT movement building. I do believe in the ideas of EA, and I think they are compelling enough that they can become mainstream.
Overall, though, I think it’s just plain wrong to argue for an unexamined idea of honesty as some unquestionable ideal. I think doing so as a consequentialist, without a very strong justification, itself smacks of disingenuousness and seems motivated by the same phony and manipulative attitude towards PR that Sarah’s article attacks.
What would be more interesting to me would be a thoughtful survey of potential EA perspectives on honesty, but an honest treatment of the subject does seem to be risky from a PR standpoint. And it’s not clear that it would bring enough benefit to justify the cost. We probably will all just end up agreeing with common moral intuitions.