Here, I wanted to address some points I didn’t get to in my last post about retroactive funding Verification Retroactive funding has to verify that charities aren’t scams just like traditional funding does. It might be easier if you can look at past impacts and work done, but it doesn’t entirely remove the need toContinue reading “Other points about RPGF”
Tag Archives: Ethics
Approaches to Interpersonal Comparison of Utilities
One difficulty with utilitarianism is “interpersonal comparison of utilities”. It’s hard to relate changes in different people’s utility. If we took an apple from Alice and gave it to Bob, is there any way to compare Alice’s sadness to Bob’s happiness? It seems like there’s no principled method to compare these feelings. Though people feelContinue reading “Approaches to Interpersonal Comparison of Utilities”
Jungles Everywhere
A striking fact: it would take only 6 GW of power to desalinate a Colorado river’s worth of water. The cost to replace the entire river with desalinated water is roughly $1.6 billion/year [1]. That may sound like a lot, but with 40 million people living in the Colorado river basin, that’s only $40/person (andContinue reading “Jungles Everywhere”
Artificial Sentience Can Wait
There is a conflict between my ethics and my views on existential risk. On one hand, I think that AI is a major source of future risks. On the other, I think the creation of happy minds is a good thing, even if those minds are not human. So should we try to build fullyContinue reading “Artificial Sentience Can Wait”
Beings Other than People Matter
I have spent a lot of time talking about ethical premises I agree with. All of these have exclusively concerned people, but you might notice that I take a more inclusive view of the beings that matter in posts like The Disregarded. In fact, while human beings are important, it is clear to me thatContinue reading “Beings Other than People Matter”
Possible People Matter
There is a simple and surprising extension of the idea that future people matter. Possible people matter too! That is, even if it is not guaranteed that a person will exist, it still may be ethical to act upon their needs. Even if there is only a small chance of someone existing, in the eventContinue reading “Possible People Matter”
Future People Matter
The needs of future generations matter morally and should be taken into consideration when making decisions today. The idea rests at the center of people’s desire to make the world a better place. The modern focus on climate change echos this concern for future generations, while the Greek proverb “A society grows great when oldContinue reading “Future People Matter”
In Defense of Totalism
The repugnant conclusion (RC) is a commonly discussed problem in population ethics. If our ethical theory merely aggregates the total happiness of a population, then some scenarios with many slightly-happy people would be preferred to scenarios with a few very-happy people. Why does this matter? Because making decisions about future populations is hugely important, andContinue reading “In Defense of Totalism”
The Disregarded
For every person breathing tainted air. For every aspiring immigrant who can’t move to prosperity. For every child who inherits an imperfect world. For every animal suffering from a lack of compassion. For all of the Disregarded, named and nameless, I hope to build a better world for you. … Who are the Disregarded? YouContinue reading “The Disregarded”
Counterfactual Contracts
Imagine coming home from work (back when that was a thing). As you walk in the door, your roommate says “Hey! I bought you a burrito for dinner, mind paying me back?” Some possible responses: “Thanks! That’s exactly what I wanted for dinner, I will gladly pay you back.” Or: “What?! I hate burritos andContinue reading “Counterfactual Contracts”
Harsimony 