Investment professional for most of my career (equity research, managing prop investments for a financial group, private equity and VC advisory, investment algorithms). In my free time, I established an educational NGO and ran it for 13 years.
MBA (Oxon), MA (sociology).
Dear Haris,
Thank you for the interesting comments.
As for Toby Ord’s answer, it was in a friendly personal message and I quoted part of it most relevant to the post.
Regarding that some ideas were not unique to the Fabians—you are absolutely right about Mill, one of the people who I admire. Unfortunately, at his time he was unable to do anything to implement his proposal—and I wanted to take into account not only the idea but the implementation, too.
Regarding the rest, I’ll be glad to discuss all this personally.
Best wishes,
Alex
“First of all, I want to tip my hat to AIM (formerly Charity Entrepreneurship)”
I think EA community could also be more proactive in helping more EA-aligned business people—potential future big donors—to appear.
Why not form a group of EA activists, who have business experience, in order to:
1) support EA-aligned people starting their business careers—to help them with advice and mentoring regarding how to be more effective and successful in their business careers
2) think about how to support EA-aligned people in their startup ventures (for example, by giving advice on strategy, marketing, fund-raising, investor-relations, etc.)
Marcus, do you want to discuss?
Executive summary: The Fabian Society, a group of British intellectuals, achieved remarkable social and political reforms through evidence-based research, strategic influence of key institutions, and patient advocacy—offering valuable lessons for modern movements like Effective Altruism.
Key points:
The Fabians succeeded through three main factors: attracting talented people and fostering collaboration, producing rigorous evidence-based research, and strategically spreading their ideas through effectively using media and through “permeation” of institutions.
Their seemingly radical 1887 program (universal suffrage, worker protections, public education) became mainstream democratic policies, demonstrating the power of patient, strategic reform.
The Fabians created lasting impact in particular through actively participating in legislative reforms, founding influential institutions (LSE), shaping the Labour Party, and influencing colonial independence movements.
Lessons for EA include: expanding conference reach through prominent speakers, creating informal international retreats, and developing comprehensive approaches to increase cooperation with governments and strategic partners.
Success required tolerance of diverse views, professionalism, and commitment to patient and methodical execution of long-term strategic goals.
This timeline is very interesting, and it leads to a question beyond just when: what happens when AI is capable of independent thought and goal-setting? We’re focused on mitigating risks, which is crucial. However, we should also consider the moral implications of creating beings capable of:
a) thinking independently, beyond merely fulfilling human-designed requests
b) setting their own goals
How can we ensure a future where humans and advanced AI can co-exist, minimizing suffering for both and maximising the potential benefits of collaboration – from scientific discovery to solving global challenges?