The video identifies two broad objections to giving: that the aid is not helpful (1:18–1:21) and that the aid’s help is insignificant (1:22–1:29). Even emotionally, it doesn’t address the first of these; it does address the other.
Interestingly, the rational answer to the second objection is also very short, and runs along much the same lines as the emotional answer. To wit: the correct comparison is not between the effect that your aid has and the size of the problem, but between the good that your aid does and the harm that it does in wasting money. To connect to the emotional argument: if a life saved beats a pair of expensive shoes, then this is true regardless of how many other lives there are to save. So the second objection is now reduced to the first one: am I in fact saving a life?
Overall, I agree with the OP: there are emotional replies to emotional bias, so emotion can overcome bias. In this case, the question ‘What if [it was] your daughter […]?’ can encourage emotions that overcome bias. That doesn’t mean that I like the rest of the video, however. I can also see why even that line (which I do like) can turn off people, like the readers of LessWrong, who recognise emotional manipulation.
I went to the website, where they have plenty of room to give long answers to the first objection; I found nothing! The pledge is very vague, and I already meet its requirements (so I signed it). Given that Peter Singer seems to be behind this, I’m rather disappointed, actually; I respect him as a philosopher.
I went to the website, where they have plenty of room to give long answers to the first objection; I found nothing! The pledge is very vague, and I already meet its requirements (so I signed it). Given that Peter Singer seems to be behind this, I’m rather disappointed, actually; I respect him as a philosopher.
•I agree that Singer has given insufficient attention to the question of effectiveness. In the past he has greatly underestimated the cost of saving a life and paid little attention to the question of whether international aid charities do what they claim to do.
•To be fair to Singer, his most recent book does give information about the effectiveness of international aid.
•The first three links under my response to byrnema and the links therein provide good discussions of the track record of international aid and what effect the best health interventions can reasonably be expected to have.
The video identifies two broad objections to giving: that the aid is not helpful (1:18–1:21) and that the aid’s help is insignificant (1:22–1:29). Even emotionally, it doesn’t address the first of these; it does address the other.
Interestingly, the rational answer to the second objection is also very short, and runs along much the same lines as the emotional answer. To wit: the correct comparison is not between the effect that your aid has and the size of the problem, but between the good that your aid does and the harm that it does in wasting money. To connect to the emotional argument: if a life saved beats a pair of expensive shoes, then this is true regardless of how many other lives there are to save. So the second objection is now reduced to the first one: am I in fact saving a life?
Overall, I agree with the OP: there are emotional replies to emotional bias, so emotion can overcome bias. In this case, the question ‘What if [it was] your daughter […]?’ can encourage emotions that overcome bias. That doesn’t mean that I like the rest of the video, however. I can also see why even that line (which I do like) can turn off people, like the readers of LessWrong, who recognise emotional manipulation.
I went to the website, where they have plenty of room to give long answers to the first objection; I found nothing! The pledge is very vague, and I already meet its requirements (so I signed it). Given that Peter Singer seems to be behind this, I’m rather disappointed, actually; I respect him as a philosopher.
•I agree that Singer has given insufficient attention to the question of effectiveness. In the past he has greatly underestimated the cost of saving a life and paid little attention to the question of whether international aid charities do what they claim to do.
•To be fair to Singer, his most recent book does give information about the effectiveness of international aid.
•The first three links under my response to byrnema and the links therein provide good discussions of the track record of international aid and what effect the best health interventions can reasonably be expected to have.