Indestructibly optimistic.
Dem0sthenes
I would like to address the cyberbullying that downvoted my comment here: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/jhCGX8Gwq44TmyPJv/ea-s-culture-and-thinking-are-severely-limiting-its-impact?commentId=WNqs7wH8WBEQq6xjb#WNqs7wH8WBEQq6xjb
Saying “it might be worthwhile to consider the source” is very different than “an ad homin” attack. Honestly the norm of never considering the source ignores the very practical cui bono school of public discourse and really just speaks again to the EA implicit academic naivete and assumptions.
What’s the future fund?
[Question] Is there a space in effective altruism for speculative fiction?
The intra-EA jargon is strong with this one, young padawan(s).
It’s perhaps not that surprising that this specific counterpoint calling for a ton of more analysis comes from a student still in academia / undergrad…
Are we already past the precipice? Would we know if that was the case? I really wonder. Things seem to be spiraling. Many of todays conditions mirror the malaise and misery of the 1930s but the capacity for destruction is orders of magnitude higher. I wonder if we need to act with much greater urgency and boldness to be more proactive about XR..…
Yes that makes sense and aligns with my thinking as well. Do you have a sense of how much the EA community gives to AI vs nuclear vs bioweapon existential risks? Or how to go about figuring that out?
Where is the evidence for this claim? This all seems like reason and words :P
Is not the greatest refuge what Elon is planning for Mars? That’s a separate track though we should be working to expedite and ensure that that civilizational plan b is operational ASAP.
Hi Stephen! Thanks for the post. What are the typical frameworks that you use to think about existential threats? Sometimes for instance we utilize probabilities to describe the chance of say nuclear Armageddon though that seems a bit off from a frequentinost philosophical perspective. For example, that type of event either happens or it doesn’t. We can’t run 100 earth high fidelity simulations and count the various outcomes and then calculate the probability of various catastrophes. I work with data in my day job so these types of questions are top of mind.
Respectfully, I must inquire: what’s the actual personal attack that I have been, most egregiously I might add, accused of making? There’s nothing wrong with being an undergrad. That is a value neutral statement. Just saying consider the source my internet fren. No attack intended and labeling it as such to pile onto a mob of downvotes strikes me as a bit of cyberbullying, perhaps most accurately described as “white knighting” to use the parlance of the Very Online crowd. I must say though. I’m a little hurt and honestly a bit offended by your behavior. I would urge you to reflect on the moral certainty implicit in this interaction and what this says about the EA community.