Tag: Academic papers
-
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.
-
Papers I learned from (Part 3: Risk, non-identity, and extinction)
Richard Pettigrew has argued that some versions of risk-averse longtermism may recommend hastening human extinction. Nikhil Venkatesh and Kacper Kowalczyk reply to Pettigrew.
-
Against the singularity hypothesis (Part 3: Further doubts)
This post gives three further reasons for skepticism about the singularity hypothesis.
-
Papers I learned from (Part 2: Effective altruism, risk, and human extinction)
What effect does risk aversion have on the case for existential risk mitigation? Surprisingly, Richard Pettigrew argues that risk aversion may recommend working to hasten rather than avoid human extinction.
-
Against the singularity hypothesis (Part 1: Introduction)
The singularity hypothesis holds that the intelligence of artificial agents will grow at a rapidly accelerating rate, producing an intelligence explosion. This post introduces a new paper criticizing the singularity hypothesis.
-
Mistakes in the moral mathematics of existential risk (Part 3: Population dynamics)
I discuss a third mistake in the moral mathematics of existential risk: neglecting population dynamics. I show that the value of existential risk mitigation is sharply reduced in standard population models.
-
Mistakes in the moral mathematics of existential risk (Part 1: Introduction and cumulative risk)
Many authors give alarmingly high estimates of the value of existential risk mitigation. In this series based on my paper of the same name, I discuss three mistakes in the moral mathematics of existential risk that unduly inflate estimates of the value of existential risk mitigation.
-
The good it promises, the harm it does (Part 3: Carol J. Adams)
Carol J Adams proposes that effective altruists can learn valuable lessons from the feminist tradition of care ethics. I discuss two concrete lessons and sketch a care ethical approach.
-
The good it promises, the harm it does (Part 2: Simone de Lima)
I look at Simone de Lima’s essay “Effective altruism’s unsuspecting 21st century colonialism” to draw out lessons for the importance of learning from local history, knowledge and context, the dangers of quantification, and the pitfalls of top-down international governance by former colonial powers.