That’s right. It would seem extremely unlikely that one should have a multi-billion dollar industry with no-one thinking about what happens if it succeeds at its aim.
It’s very important for EAs to recognise that there probably isn’t a single best cause (and that even if there is, the uncertainties are too big to allow us to identify it). Even if there was an identifiable best cause, it is likely to change, so it’s bad for EAs to identify too strongly with any one cause.
There’s a broader risk in focusing on marginal cost-effectiveness—that it leads to local rather than global optimisation. It’s a good heuristic, but bad to rely on too much.
That’s right. It would seem extremely unlikely that one should have a multi-billion dollar industry with no-one thinking about what happens if it succeeds at its aim.
It’s very important for EAs to recognise that there probably isn’t a single best cause (and that even if there is, the uncertainties are too big to allow us to identify it). Even if there was an identifiable best cause, it is likely to change, so it’s bad for EAs to identify too strongly with any one cause.
There’s a broader risk in focusing on marginal cost-effectiveness—that it leads to local rather than global optimisation. It’s a good heuristic, but bad to rely on too much.