Dave Cortright 🔸

• Dave Cortright 🔸Jul 1, 2025, 11:13 PM

  1 point

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  on: De­bate: De­pop­u­la­tion Matters

• Dave Cortright 🔸Jun 27, 2025, 6:27 PM

  1 point

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  on: Sys­tems Change 101

  Thanks for putting this together! A few other considerations I didn’t see in the article (correct me if I missed it):

  Any organization [or system] is perfectly designed to get the results that it gets.
  —Arthur W. Jones, organizational design expert

  So if you want different results, you must change the system. Expecting players to “be better” is not a viable path to lasting change.

  Institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution.
  —Clay Shirky

  It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.
  —Upton Sinclair

  The fortunate man is seldom satisfied with the fact of being fortunate. Beyond this, he needs to know that he has a right to his good fortune. He wants to be convinced that he deserves it and—above all—that he deserves it in comparison with others. Good fortune thus wants to be legitimate fortune. [a.k.a. system justification theory]
  —Max Weber

  Veil of Ignorance (a.k.a. Original Position) — a philosophical concept by John Rawls, which suggests that individuals should design the principles of society without knowing their own personal circumstances, such as their gender, race, or social status. This thought experiment aims to promote fairness and impartiality in decision-making, encouraging the creation of just and equitable societal structures.

  Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect. [a.k.a. Social dominance orientation]
  —Frank Wilhoit (composer from Ohio)

• Dave Cortright 🔸Jun 8, 2025, 4:25 PM

  3 points

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  on: The Seven Laws of Declinism

  There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
  ― William Shakespeare, Hamlet

  It’s easy to focus on or overweigh the negative things in the world. It could be argued that our bias towards “loss aversion” primes humans to be this way. So, effort and training are required to look at data in an unbiased way. Just because we see more reports of something doesn’t mean those things are increasing. It could be a reporting bias.
  
  If I could add one requirement to the education system, it would be critical thinking skills—especially the ability to learn and spot logical fallacies. I think this is a foundational reason why democracies are slipping back towards fascism.

• Dave Cortright 🔸Jun 6, 2025, 2:33 PM

  3 points

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  in reply to: Brad West🔸’s comment on: Good.store is ”profit for good“ by Hank & John Green (vlog broth­ers)

  The only part of the Beast empire that is 100% charitable is his Beast Philanthropy channel. I do recommend people subscribe and watch those videos. He started with local food banks and has quickly moved to (what looks to me like) fairly effective humanitarian aid in LMICs. Some of his main channel videos cover his humanitarian efforts. But I think they are essentially marketing for his Philanthropy.
  
  I subscribe to Hank & John’s newsletter and replied with the info on the P4G conference. Probably was read by an intern, but at least someone in the org is aware.

• Dave Cortright 🔸Jun 6, 2025, 1:56 PM

  7 points

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  on: Gabrielle Young: 1995-2025

  Worldwide list of crisis hotlines:
  https://​​wikipedia.org/​​wiki/​​List_of_suicide_crisis_lines

Good.store is ”profit for good“ by Hank & John Green (vlog broth­ers)

• Dave Cortright 🔸Jun 6, 2025, 12:14 AM

  3 points

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  on: USA To­day High­lights Profit for Good

  Here’s a clickable link to the article.

Vasili Arkhipov (Petrov’s un­der­sea coun­ter­part) cel­e­brated in an an­i­mated short

• Dave Cortright 🔸May 29, 2025, 4:06 AM

  1 point

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  on: Hank Green on rec­og­niz­ing in­visi­ble pre­ven­tion and cel­e­brat­ing coun­ter­fac­tual lives saved

  I put 2 comments on that video that unfortunately haven’t gotten many upvotes…

  𝗣𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘃 𝗗𝗮𝘆—the day in which nuclear war didn’t break out in 1983—is celebrated by some people (mostly nerds 🤓)

  ...

  In the spirit of this video, all of these people should be known and celebrated: 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗴, 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘇 𝗛𝗮𝗯𝗲𝗿 & 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗹 𝗕𝗼𝘀𝗰𝗵, 𝗘𝗱𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗝𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿, 𝗝𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘀 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗸, 𝗠𝗮𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻, 𝗧𝘂 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝗞𝗮𝗿𝗹 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿, 𝗔𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗱 𝗡𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻, 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝗦𝗻𝗼𝘄, 𝗔𝗯𝗲𝗹 𝗪𝗼𝗹𝗺𝗮𝗻, 𝗝𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗵 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿, 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘃 𝗣𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘃, 𝗩𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗔𝗿𝗸𝗵𝗶𝗽𝗼𝘃

  I think YouTube might be shadowbanning me for using UNICODE bold ¯\_ (ツ)_/​¯

• Dave Cortright 🔸May 16, 2025, 4:51 PM

  31 points

  18 ∶ 0

  on: The Daily Show did a seg­ment on EA and Shrimp Welfare Project

  Of course they’re going for the easy jokes. It’s a comedy show. I’m glad EA is getting more widespread, mainstream exposure.

• Dave Cortright 🔸May 14, 2025, 3:03 PM

  1 point

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  in reply to: Sjlver’s comment on: Manag­ing Your Money 101

  I think about it as 2 mechanisms for income: my effort or my investment’s effort. I’m at the point now where my investments do 100% of the work for earning my income, leaving me 100% of my time to spend how I see fit.

  You can give more to effective causes sooner, at the cost of investing more effort for longer to keep the money coming in. Ultimately, how you want to give back, at what stage of life, and how much are all unique, personal choices.

  Absolutely, make adjustments based on any personal values or beliefs. I consider this to be like many art forms. You need to learn and know the foundational basics before you can make good judgments on which parts to change or ignore.

• Dave Cortright 🔸May 13, 2025, 4:54 PM

  1 point

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  in reply to: Rasool’s comment on: Manag­ing Your Money 101

  In most instances, people invest with a portion of each paycheck; there is no lump sum available. If you do have a lump sum and want to invest it, go for it. I stand by it for withdrawals, though. You need to have a prudent cash reserve, and liquidating on a regular schedule is a good way to do this. Or just stop reinvesting interest and dividends.

• Dave Cortright 🔸May 12, 2025, 9:10 PM

  1 point

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  in reply to: Rebecca Herbst’s comment on: Manag­ing Your Money 101

  Agreed that there are other options out there for those who want to invest more time and energy. But it’s the 10% case, and what I’ve outlined here was designed for the 90% case. I tried being a more active money manager, and I realized I’d rather spend my time and attention focused on other things 🙂

• Dave Cortright 🔸May 12, 2025, 9:07 PM

  1 point

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  in reply to: Lorenzo Buonanno🔸’s comment on: Manag­ing Your Money 101

  For me (and most people, I suspect), usability is a top value. I used to read the Motley Fool and followed some of their advice. I even bought into their premium service for a year. And I found that I didn’t want to spend my time tracking investments, trying to time things, buy low, sell high…

  I like the buy-and-hold strategy. I think it’s good foundational advice, and you can start to tinker and diversify as you personally see fit.

• Dave Cortright 🔸May 12, 2025, 9:03 PM

  1 point

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  in reply to: Joseph’s comment on: Manag­ing Your Money 101

  Thanks for sharing your perspective! For any reasonably large economy, I’d think an analog market index fund would be the best alternative. But I admit I didn’t look at it in detail. I know that the Millennial Revolution couple are Canadian, and they had some posts on how they invest in America. Those might be of interest.

Manag­ing Your Money 101

• Dave Cortright 🔸Apr 8, 2025, 8:25 PM

  1 point

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  on: Marisa, the Co-Founder of EA Any­where, Has Passed Away

  This post inspired me to share my thoughts On Suicide. I hope it helps.

• Dave Cortright 🔸Apr 1, 2025, 4:59 PM

  1 point

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  in reply to: Matt Brooks’s comment on: Sin­gu­lar­ity Sur­vival Guide: A Bayesian Guide for Nav­i­gat­ing the Pre-Sin­gu­lar­ity Period

  Please read the US Surgeon General report. It’s more than just suicide.

  There’s also this chart from The Village Effect, citing Holt-Lunstad 2010:

  Also, (from an LLM):

  A study published in The British Journal of Psychiatry examined the impact of loneliness and depression on mortality over 19 years. The researchers found that individuals experiencing loneliness at baseline had a higher likelihood of death during the follow-up period. The presence of depression further increased this risk, suggesting a potentially synergistic effect between loneliness and depression on mortality. ​Cambridge University Press & Assessment

  Another study, also published in The British Journal of Psychiatry, investigated the association between mental disorders and accidental deaths. The study population was over 6.9 million adults in Sweden, followed for eight years. The researchers found that individuals with mental disorders, including depression, had an increased risk of death from accidents, such as falls, motor vehicle crashes, and other unintended injuries. ​Cambridge University Press & Assessment

• Dave Cortright 🔸Apr 1, 2025, 6:21 AM

  2 points

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  on: Sin­gu­lar­ity Sur­vival Guide: A Bayesian Guide for Nav­i­gat­ing the Pre-Sin­gu­lar­ity Period

  The #1 risk for most people these days is loneliness. The US Surgeon General reported that loneliness is as deadly as smoking. Other sources worth checking out: The Village Effect by Susan Pinker, Friends by Robin Dunbar, and the Harvard Grant Study. I also just released this podcast episode on relationships.

• Dave Cortright 🔸Mar 19, 2025, 5:19 AM

  −5 points

  0 ∶ 2

  on: DaveC’s Shortform

  A good friend turned me onto The Telepathy Tapes. It presents some pretty compelling evidence that people who are neurodivergent can more easily tap into an underlying universal Consciousness. I suspect Buddhists and other Enlightened folks who spend the time and effort quieting their mind and letting go of ego and dualism can also. I’m curious what others in EA (self-identified rationalists for example) make of this…