Reflective altruism
I’m a philosopher at Vanderbilt University (views my own). The purpose of this blog is to use academic research to drive positive change within and around the effective altruism movement. Discussions are long-form and structured around thematic series. Subscribe below for biweekly posts.
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Human biodiversity (Part 5: The people of Alexander)
This post discusses the influence of HBD on the community surrounding Slate Star Codex and Astral Codex Ten.
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The scope of longtermism (Part 3: Washing out)
Washing out occurs when there is significant cancellation between possible positive and negative consequences of our actions when taking expectations.
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Epistemics (Part 8: Two types of decoupling)
This post distinguishes two types of decoupling: truth decoupling and harm decoupling. Truth decoupling is a fine practice. Harm decoupling is not.
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Billionaire philanthropy (Part 7: Donor discretion)
Philanthropic donors exercise substantial discretion over how their donations are spent. This may influence the direction of movements that rely on a few key donors for support.
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Human biodiversity (Part 4: Astral Codex Ten)
This post discusses the influence of human biodiversity theory on Astral Codex Ten and other work by Scott Alexander.
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The scope of longtermism (Part 2: Rapid diminution)
Rapid diminution occurs when the probabilities of large long-term impacts diminish more quickly than their sizes increase. Rapid diminution tends to shrink the scope of longtermism.
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Epistemics (Part 7: Authority)
At times, effective altruists show strong regard for scientific, scholarly and journalistic authority. But sometimes they do not.
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Harms (Part 4: Inequality)
Short-termist interventions often reduced global inequality. By contrast, longtermist interventions may increase inequality.
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The scope of longtermism (Part 1: Introduction)
In this paper and blog series, I suggest that the scope of longtermism may be narrower than many longtermists suppose.
