Viliam_Bur comments on Another Critique of Effective Altruism - Less Wrong

19 Post author: jsteinhardt 05 January 2014 09:51AM

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Comment author: Viliam_Bur 05 January 2014 08:05:43PM 7 points [-]

Seems like EA could be yet another destructive Western superstimulus, although unlike many others it generates a lot of utility in other parts of the world. Still, maybe avoiding self-destruction could be wiser in long run -- you know, just in case the Friendly AI fails to materialize for another 20 years or more.

Comment author: John_Maxwell_IV 06 January 2014 06:07:24PM 0 points [-]

Some people also take regular exercise too far. Does that make it a bad thing? If you're actually being self-destructive, then that's clearly not optimal even from an extreme altruist perspective because you will be most effective and productive when you are happy, healthy, and motivated. Consider how well many top companies like Google treat their employees.

Comment author: [deleted] 06 January 2014 06:17:51PM *  1 point [-]

This seems to be a common misconception about effective altruism for some people.

I once told a person about effective altruism and this person said to me:

Have you reduced your diet to rice, beans, spinach, water, and maybe a multi-vitamin? That would provide all the essential nutrients you need to survive, and at the same time free up some of the money you were "wasting" on frivolous luxury eating beef, chicken, cheese, etc. Have you moved into the smallest, cheapest housing available? Did you sell your car and now rely solely on walking or biking to get around so you can donate all that money to the people who need it to survive?

This is a bit puzzling to me because it's quite clear that this is not an optimal lifestyle especially for effective altruists because you want to continue giving for as long as possible. The effects on your mental health and the burnout risk is not worth the small amount of money you could save by possibly sacrificing all your future donations.

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