“we need to find ways to shut down animal agriculture for good”
There have been EA-aligned alternative protein efforts, so I don’t think it would be correct to say that this impulse is absent from EA animal advocacy. That being said, I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up somewhat more prominent in SMA, although it’s a young movement and so much is unknown.
To the extent that SMA ends up considerably less focused on measurables, it will be interesting to see how it deals with some of the potential biases that a focus on measurement helps mitigate (e.g., the risk of focusing on what feels good subjectively / or on what is higher status socially / or what suits one’s pre-existing ideological sympathies). My own take on EA—which is probably not the orthodox view—is that running all the world’s charitable activity through an EA lens would not be a good idea, but that some of that activity should be, and that amount that should be is higher than the amount that currently is.
Yeah, the alt protein does seem to be the biggest push to that end I’ve seen in EA. Has anyone done the math on lives saved (and hours of torture averted) per person who goes vegan or something, to see if a movement in that direction would be worth prioritizing more?
Definitely agree on your second paragraph, it’ll be interesting to see how things shake out. And I especially agree with you last sentence :)
There have been EA-aligned alternative protein efforts, so I don’t think it would be correct to say that this impulse is absent from EA animal advocacy. That being said, I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up somewhat more prominent in SMA, although it’s a young movement and so much is unknown.
To the extent that SMA ends up considerably less focused on measurables, it will be interesting to see how it deals with some of the potential biases that a focus on measurement helps mitigate (e.g., the risk of focusing on what feels good subjectively / or on what is higher status socially / or what suits one’s pre-existing ideological sympathies). My own take on EA—which is probably not the orthodox view—is that running all the world’s charitable activity through an EA lens would not be a good idea, but that some of that activity should be, and that amount that should be is higher than the amount that currently is.
Yeah, the alt protein does seem to be the biggest push to that end I’ve seen in EA. Has anyone done the math on lives saved (and hours of torture averted) per person who goes vegan or something, to see if a movement in that direction would be worth prioritizing more?
Definitely agree on your second paragraph, it’ll be interesting to see how things shake out. And I especially agree with you last sentence :)