Rutger Bregman is taking the world by storm at the moment, promoting his book and concept “Moral Ambition”. Yesterday he was on the Daily show!. It might be the biggest wave of publicity of largely EA ideas since FTX? Most of what he says is an attractive repackaging, or perhaps an evolution of largely EA ideas. He’s striking a chord with the mainstream media, in a way that I’m not sure Effective altruism ever really has (but I wasn’t there in the early days). I would also hazard a guess that his approach might resonate especially well with left-leaning people.
I was wondering if there’s anything EA’s could be DOING at the moment to take advantage of/leverage this unexpected wave of EA-Adjacent publicity. Things like...
1. Help with funding advertising, or anything else he might needs to ride the wave—these opportunities don’t come often. He may well not need money though... 2. Using his videos and ideas as “ins” or advertising to university EA groups or other outreach. I know he’s going to talk at Harvard uni soon—what is the group there’s response? 3. Incorporating some of his language and ideas into how EA presents itself. Phrases like “Moral ambition”, and the “Bermuda triangle of talent” seem like great phrases to adopt into our “lexicon” as it were.
Yes it’s quite exciting! One quick thought: I don’t think SMA/Bregman would be very pleased if EAs regularly started using SMA’s videos and ideas in their outreach (because they want to keep themselves quite separate). Maybe he’s changed his view on that (they’re organising an event with Singer and GWWC shortly), but it was certainly the case a year or so ago. If anyone’s considering doing this on a significant scale, I’d suggest checking with them first.
I think there’s merit in discussing and collaborating, and even keepign something seperate.I do think though that even if they do manage to gather a significant “movement” or “community” around SMA it will end up overlapping/melding with the EA community in significant ways. The concepts are just so aligned that it would be hard to keep the communities separate. Percent overlap will be high especially after a few years.
Perhaps in his homeland the Netherlands this might be possible though as most likely there will be more uptake there.
Also he’s praising AMF, collaborating with AIM and doing events with Singer and GWWC so it would be a little odd for them to use what EA has generated to big up themselves, wile not wanting EA to do the same the other way around at all? This seems unlikely they would want this but maybe I’m missing something.
Appreciate that brother. Personally I don’t mind disagree votes—there’s plenty there that could reasonably be wrong/disagreed with. Its the karma downvoting that surprises me more :D. In saying that I’ve been downvoted for more benign statements ;).
I recently attended his book launch in London, where he was asked about EA. I was surprised by how positive his response was. His main criticism was that EA feels “nerdy,” and that these ideas deserve a much wider audience. I got the impression he sees SMA as at least somewhat aligned with EA, but aimed at a broader audience.
He mentioned Ambitious Impact twice during the talk and profiles them in a chapter in the book. He also shouted out Rob Mather (who was in attendance), and includes at least two chapters on founding and running the Against Malaria Foundation in the book. I haven’t seen other interviews, but it already seems to me like he’s promoting certain EA areas.
RUTGER: I see myself as a pluralist. It’s fine to rely on the full spectrum of human emotions and motivations. Humans are a mixed bag, right? So, we are partially motivated sometimes by things such as compassion, empathy, and altruism, which is wonderful. But we can’t solely rely on that to make this world a wildly better place.
Peter, you’re obviously the founder of the Effective Altruism movement, a movement that I admire. At the same time, though, I feel it’s a bit limited in its reach because many of the effective altruists I’ve spoken to are a bit strange and weird. They’re mainly motivated by this yearning to do good and help others. They are born altruists. A lot of them became vegan when they were very young. Many of them reacted instantly when they read your essay, Famine, Affluence and Morality, and I think what happened in the years around 2010 is that these people discovered one another on social media, and they realised, “Hey, I’m not alone.” But they’ve always been quite weird, which is fine, don’t get me wrong. I’m happy for them to do their work, but at the same time, I thought, perhaps there’s also a place for a broader movement for more “neurotypical people” that relies on other sources of motivation.
Yes, he references quite a few EA case studies in the book and in his talks. From chats I’ve had with people involved, I think they’re being thoughtful about how they relate to the EA brand—trying to reach a broader audience without getting pulled into existing perceptions.
So that’s why I say if you’re thinking of using their work in EA outreach at a significant scale, I’d suggest checking in with them first.
Worth noting: Peter Singer and Rutger Bregman’s School for Moral Ambition are co-hosting a Profit for Good conference in Amsterdam on 11 June—a concrete EA-adjacent collaboration that channels Bregman’s “moral ambition” into effective-charity business models. Another good touchpoint for anyone looking to ride this wave.
I think the fellowships look great, but as paid internships I would have thought they would have been the best way to collaborate with them for a pretty small number of people?
I think many people can/should apply, but of course I expect only few will get in.
I also don’t know if “paid internship” is a good description, I think it’s probably closer to Ambitious Impact programs than to a typical internship (the “founding to give” program is made in collaboration with AIM)
Rutger Bregman is taking the world by storm at the moment, promoting his book and concept “Moral Ambition”. Yesterday he was on the Daily show!. It might be the biggest wave of publicity of largely EA ideas since FTX? Most of what he says is an attractive repackaging, or perhaps an evolution of largely EA ideas. He’s striking a chord with the mainstream media, in a way that I’m not sure Effective altruism ever really has (but I wasn’t there in the early days). I would also hazard a guess that his approach might resonate especially well with left-leaning people.
I was wondering if there’s anything EA’s could be DOING at the moment to take advantage of/leverage this unexpected wave of EA-Adjacent publicity. Things like...
1. Help with funding advertising, or anything else he might needs to ride the wave—these opportunities don’t come often. He may well not need money though...
2. Using his videos and ideas as “ins” or advertising to university EA groups or other outreach. I know he’s going to talk at Harvard uni soon—what is the group there’s response?
3. Incorporating some of his language and ideas into how EA presents itself. Phrases like “Moral ambition”, and the “Bermuda triangle of talent” seem like great phrases to adopt into our “lexicon” as it were.
Thoughts?
Yes it’s quite exciting! One quick thought: I don’t think SMA/Bregman would be very pleased if EAs regularly started using SMA’s videos and ideas in their outreach (because they want to keep themselves quite separate). Maybe he’s changed his view on that (they’re organising an event with Singer and GWWC shortly), but it was certainly the case a year or so ago. If anyone’s considering doing this on a significant scale, I’d suggest checking with them first.
I think there’s merit in discussing and collaborating, and even keepign something seperate.I do think though that even if they do manage to gather a significant “movement” or “community” around SMA it will end up overlapping/melding with the EA community in significant ways. The concepts are just so aligned that it would be hard to keep the communities separate. Percent overlap will be high especially after a few years.
Perhaps in his homeland the Netherlands this might be possible though as most likely there will be more uptake there.
Also he’s praising AMF, collaborating with AIM and doing events with Singer and GWWC so it would be a little odd for them to use what EA has generated to big up themselves, wile not wanting EA to do the same the other way around at all? This seems unlikely they would want this but maybe I’m missing something.
Yup, I largely agree, I’m not sure why people are disagree voting with you.
Appreciate that brother. Personally I don’t mind disagree votes—there’s plenty there that could reasonably be wrong/disagreed with. Its the karma downvoting that surprises me more :D. In saying that I’ve been downvoted for more benign statements ;).
I recently attended his book launch in London, where he was asked about EA. I was surprised by how positive his response was. His main criticism was that EA feels “nerdy,” and that these ideas deserve a much wider audience. I got the impression he sees SMA as at least somewhat aligned with EA, but aimed at a broader audience.
He mentioned Ambitious Impact twice during the talk and profiles them in a chapter in the book. He also shouted out Rob Mather (who was in attendance), and includes at least two chapters on founding and running the Against Malaria Foundation in the book.
I haven’t seen other interviews, but it already seems to me like he’s promoting certain EA areas.
He expresses similar views in his recent interview with Peter Singer:
That’s good!
Yes, he references quite a few EA case studies in the book and in his talks. From chats I’ve had with people involved, I think they’re being thoughtful about how they relate to the EA brand—trying to reach a broader audience without getting pulled into existing perceptions.
So that’s why I say if you’re thinking of using their work in EA outreach at a significant scale, I’d suggest checking in with them first.
Very fair!
I also think that EA feels super nerdy and these ideas deserve a broader audience.
Worth noting: Peter Singer and Rutger Bregman’s School for Moral Ambition are co-hosting a Profit for Good conference in Amsterdam on 11 June—a concrete EA-adjacent collaboration that channels Bregman’s “moral ambition” into effective-charity business models. Another good touchpoint for anyone looking to ride this wave.
https://www.moralambition.org/profit-for-good-conference-live-stream
I think for most people applying to their fellowships would be the best way to collaborate with SMA to do good (as he mentions in the video)
I think the fellowships look great, but as paid internships I would have thought they would have been the best way to collaborate with them for a pretty small number of people?
I think many people can/should apply, but of course I expect only few will get in.
I also don’t know if “paid internship” is a good description, I think it’s probably closer to Ambitious Impact programs than to a typical internship (the “founding to give” program is made in collaboration with AIM)