Seems relevant in the wake of the FTX scandal. I’ve seen people blaming effective altruism for the scandal, as if it FTX’s fraudulent practices prove that the philosophy of giving to charities that demonstrably do the most good is flawed. Even if the entire EA movement is cult-like and misguided, that doesn’t mean that the principle it’s based on is wrong. I think the modern EA movement is misguided to some extent, but only because they have misjudged which causes are the most effective, and this shouldn’t stop anyone else from donating to causes that they believe are more effective.
Seems relevant in the wake of the FTX scandal. I’ve seen people blaming effective altruism for the scandal, as if it FTX’s fraudulent practices prove that the philosophy of giving to charities that demonstrably do the most good is flawed. Even if the entire EA movement is cult-like and misguided, that doesn’t mean that the principle it’s based on is wrong. I think the modern EA movement is misguided to some extent, but only because they have misjudged which causes are the most effective, and this shouldn’t stop anyone else from donating to causes that they believe are more effective.
Interestingly, I do think the EA movement/philosophy is fundamentally misguided, but for very different reasons than their critics think.