It was nice to read something that was both well-written and well-intentioned!
I don’t agree with the proposed alternative to longtermism of ‘ineffective altruism’ eschewing metrics in favour of doing things what intuitively feels right. If you disagree with longtermism the natural conclusion to me intuitively seems to be doubling down on high empirical standards and measurability.
On a slightly uncharitable side note, something I find amusing is that it’s not long ago we were getting criticised for being overly obsessed with only what could be measured, and that we should be more open to the value of systemic change and such. Then a few years pass by, and now the criticism is that we’re overly focused on existential risks that are impossibly difficult to measure and can be used to justify anything!
I am suspicious that while these criticisms attack the methodology of effective altruism, the methodology is not the real cause of tension but rather its conclusions.
On a slightly uncharitable side note, something I find amusing is that it’s not long ago we were getting criticised for being overly obsessed with only what could be measured, and that we should be more open to the value of systemic change and such
To be charitable to EA’s detractors, it’s very possible these are criticisms coming from different people! Some people will be more worried about measurable outcomes, others about systemic change. If EA is getting both kinds of criticisms then it’s probably doing better than if it’s only getting one type!
It was nice to read something that was both well-written and well-intentioned!
I don’t agree with the proposed alternative to longtermism of ‘ineffective altruism’ eschewing metrics in favour of doing things what intuitively feels right. If you disagree with longtermism the natural conclusion to me intuitively seems to be doubling down on high empirical standards and measurability.
On a slightly uncharitable side note, something I find amusing is that it’s not long ago we were getting criticised for being overly obsessed with only what could be measured, and that we should be more open to the value of systemic change and such. Then a few years pass by, and now the criticism is that we’re overly focused on existential risks that are impossibly difficult to measure and can be used to justify anything!
I am suspicious that while these criticisms attack the methodology of effective altruism, the methodology is not the real cause of tension but rather its conclusions.
To be charitable to EA’s detractors, it’s very possible these are criticisms coming from different people! Some people will be more worried about measurable outcomes, others about systemic change. If EA is getting both kinds of criticisms then it’s probably doing better than if it’s only getting one type!