The Threat Response to Effective Altruism - by Matt Reardon

Framing EA as an obligation doesn't meet people where they're at

The most foundational moral belief of the vast majority of people is that they, personally, are good. Maybe not great, certainly not the best, but good. A straightforward implication of this fact is that the obligation framing of Effective Altruism is counterproductive and arguably self-defeating. I recently re-watched Ajeya Cotra’s classic Intro to Effective Altruism talk. It’s fantastic, even if guilt-oriented in a way my version of that talk wouldn’t be. Early on, she drops the line “I couldn’t just do nothing” as her response to witnessing suffering up close. One of the YouTube…

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