Recently, Ben Pace wrote a well-intentioned blog post mostly based on complaints from 2 (of 21) Nonlinear employees who 1) wanted more money, 2) felt socially isolated, and 3) felt persecuted/oppressed.

Of relevance, one has accused the majority of her previous employers, and 28 people of abuse - that we know of.

She has accused multiple people of threatening to kill her and literally accused an ex-employer of murder. Within three weeks of joining us, she had accused five separate people of abuse: not paying her what was promised, controlling her romantic life, hiring stalkers, and other forms of persecution.

We have empathy for her. Initially, we believed her too. We spent weeks helping her get her “nefarious employer to finally pay her” and commiserated with her over how badly they mistreated her.

Then she started accusing us of strange things.

You’ve seen Ben's evidence, which [...]

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Outline:

(02:20) Short summary overview table

(04:04) This post is long, so if you read just one illustrative story, read this one

(08:37) What is going on? Why did they say so many misleading things? How did Ben get so much wrong?

(12:14) Ben admitted in his post that he was warned in private by multiple of his own sources that Alice was untrustworthy and told outright lies. One credible person told Ben Alice makes things up.

(20:35) Alice has similarities to Kathy Forth, who, according to Scott Alexander, was “a very disturbed person” who, multiple people told him, “had a habit of accusing men she met of sexual harassment. They all agreed she wasnt malicious, just delusional.” As a community, we do not have good mechanisms in place to protect people from false accusations.

(23:41) Why didn’t Ben do basic fact-checking to see if their claims were true? I mean, multiple people warned him?

(24:42) Longer summary table

(26:14) To many EAs, this would have been a dream job

(37:13) Sharing Information on Ben Pace

(47:07) So how do we learn from this to make our community better? How can we make EA antifragile?

(51:22) Conclusion: a story with no villains

(57:16) If you are disturbed by what happened here, here are some ways you can help

(58:53) Acknowledgments

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Summary:

International funding and coordination to tackle HIV/AIDS and support health systems in lower- and middle-income countries, is at risk of not being renewed by US Congress, due to demands that it should be linked to new abortion-related restrictions in recipient countries.

This program is estimated to have saved over 20 million lives since it was launched by the Bush Administration in 2003, and even now averts over a million HIV/AIDS deaths annually.

Since it has also helped support health systems in LMICs, and tackle malaria and tuberculosis, its impact is likely greater than this.

In my view this is the most important risk to global health we face today, and I think it isn't getting enough attention.

If anyone is interested in research, writing or advocacy on this issue, please do so. Or please get in touch if you are interested in jointly working on this [...]

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Epistemic Status: I've researched this broad topic for a couple of years. I've read about 30+ books and 100+ articles on the topic so far (I'm not really keeping count). I've also read many other works in the related areas of normative moral philosophy, moral psychology, moral epistemology, moral methodology, and metaethics, since it's basically my area of specialization within philosophy. This project will be my PhD thesis. However, I still have 3 years of the PhD to go, so a substantial amount of my opinions on the matter are subject to changes.

Disclaimer: I have received some funding as a Forethought Foundation Fellow in support of my PhD research. But all the opinions expressed here are my own.

Index.

Part I - Bibliography Review

Part II - Preliminary Takes and Opinions (I'm writing it, coming very soon!)

More parts to be published later on.

Introduction.

Hi everyone, this [...]

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Outline:

(00:51) Index.

(01:05) Introduction.

(03:55) Guiding Questions.

(08:33) Who has a good Personal Fit for becoming a Moral Progress researcher?

(15:05) Bibliography Review.

(15:32) TL;DR / Recommended Reading Order.

(17:05) Amazing books (5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Read them and take notes)

(17:15) Allen Buchanan and Rachel Powell - The Evolution of Moral Progress: A Biocultural Theory (2018) - Genre: Moral Philosophy - No Audiobook

(19:32) Steven Pinker - The Better Angels of Our Nature. The Decline of Violence in History and Its Causes (2011) - Genre: Historical Trends - Audiobook Available

(21:11) Hanno Sauer - Moral Teleology: A Theory of Progress (2023) - Genre: Moral Philosophy - No Audiobook

(22:07) Oded Galor - The Journey of Humanity (2020) - Genre: Historical Trends - Audiobook Available

(23:02) Joseph Henrichs - The Secret of Our Success (2016) - Genre: Cultural Evolution, Pre-History - Audiobook Available

(23:59) Joseph Henrich - The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous (2020) - Genre: Cultural Evolution, Historical Trends since the 1300s - Audiobook Available

(26:51) Great books (4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Read them)

(26:59) Victor Kumar and Richmond Campbell - A Better Ape: The Evolution of the Moral Mind and How it Made Us Human (2022) - Genre: Moral Psychology, Moral Philosophy - Audiobook Available

(27:40) Philip Kitcher - Moral Progress (2021) - Genre: Moral Philosophy, Social Movements - No Audiobook

(30:22) Hans Rosling - Factfulness: Ten Reasons Were Wrong About the World and Why Things Are Better Than You Think (2018) - Genre: Post-Industrial Historical Trends. - Audiobook Available

(31:10) Michael Tomasello - Becoming Human: A Theory of Ontogeny (2018)\- Genre: Cognitive Human Development - No Audiobook

(32:03) Jose Antonio Marina - Biography of Inhumanity (2021) - Genre: Moral Values, Cultural Evolution - Audiobook in Spanish only

(32:32) Kim Sterelnys - The Evolved Apprentice: How Evolution Made Humans Unique (2009) - Genre: Human Pre-History - Audiobook Available

(33:25) Jonathan Haidt - The Righteous Mind (2011) - Genre: Political Psychology - Audiobook Available

(34:52) Okay books (3/5 ⭐⭐⭐ - Skim them)

(34:59) Peter Singer - The Expanding Circle: Ethics and Sociobiology (1979 \[2011\]) - Genre: Moral Philosophy - No Audiobook

(36:19) Frans de Waal - Primates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved (2006) \- Genre: Ape Proto-Morality - No Audiobook

(37:00) Robert Wright - Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny (2000) - Genre: Cultural Evolution - Audiobook Available

(37:51) Joshua Greene - Moral Tribes. Emotion, Reason, and the gap between Us and Them (2013) - Genre: Moral Psychology - Audiobook Available

(38:48) Derek Parfit - On What Matters (2011) (just the section on the Triple Theory) - Genre: Moral Philosophy - No Audiobook

(39:28) Steven Pinker - Enlightenment Now. The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress (2018) - Genre: Social Values / Enlightenment Values - Audiobook Available

(40:15) Benedict Anderson - Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism (1983) - Genre: Modernity - No Audiobook

(41:26) William MacAskill - Moral Uncertainty (2020) - Genre: Moral Philosophy - No Audiobook

(42:01) Daniel Dennett - Darwins Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life (1995) - Genre: Evolution - Audiobook Available

(42:52) Ingmar Persson and Julian Savulescu - Unfit for the Future: The Need for Moral Enhancement (2012) - Genre: Transhumanism, Human Nature - No Audiobook

(43:25) Isaiah Berlin - The Roots of Romanticism (1965) - Genre: Romantic Values, Nationalism - No Audiobook

(44:06) Mediocre books (2/5 ⭐⭐ - Skip to the relevant sections)

(44:13) Kwame Anthony Appiah - The Honor Code: How Moral Revolutions Happen (2010) - Genre: Moral Philosophy, Social Movements - Audiobook Available

(46:13) Steven Pinker - The Blank Slate (2000) - Genre: General Psychology - Audiobook Available

(47:10) Cecilia Heyes - Cognitive Gadgets: The Cultural Evolution of Thinking (2018) - Genre: Cultural Evolution, Psychology - Audiobook Available

(48:11) Cass Sunstein - How Change Happens (2019) - Genre: Social Change, Policy - Audiobook Available

(48:44) Angus Deaton - The Great Escape: Health, Wealth, and the Origins of Inequality (2013) - Genre: Trends in Global Poverty, Health - Audiobook Available

(49:09) Johan Norberg - Progress: Ten Reasons to Look Forward to the Future (2016) - Genre: Post-Industrial Historical Trends - Audiobook Available

(49:39) David Livingstone Smith - On Inhumanity: Dehumanization and How to Resist It (2020) - Genre: - Audiobook Available

(50:18) Bad books (1/5 ⭐ - Skip)

(50:23) Michael Shermer - The Moral Arc: How Science Makes Us Better People (2015) \- Genre: Enlightenment Values - Audiobook Available

(50:51) Michele Moody-Adams - Genre: Social Movements, Moral Philosophy - Making Space for Justice (2023) - Audiobook Available

(51:21) Thomas Piketty - A Brief History of Equality (2021) \- Genre: Historical Trends - Audiobook Available

(51:44) Article collection.

(52:08) Worthwhile articles (Read them).

(52:55) Alright ones (Skim them).

(01:03:29) Bad ones (Skip them).

(01:03:55) Havent read them yet or dont remember enough to classify them.

(01:05:31) Books I havent read yet, and my reasoning for why I want to read them.

(01:05:37) Important books or articles I havent read yet.

(01:07:13) Books or articles I havent read yet. I might read them but I consider less directly relevant or less pressing.

(01:09:56) Minor readings I might do when I have free time (e.g. over the summer just to corroborate if Im missing anything important in my own work):

(01:10:58) Potentially interesting extensions but probably beyond the scope of my work.

(01:13:13) EA work on Moral Progress and related topics.

(01:13:29) Moral Circle Expansion.

(01:15:12) Economic Growth and Moral Progress.

(01:15:31) Progress Studies.

(01:16:22) Social and Intellectual Movements.

(01:16:58) Historical Processes.

(01:17:16) Cultural Evolution and Value Drift.

(01:18:37) Longtermist Institutional Reform.

(01:19:17) Conclusion.

(01:19:46) Acknowledgements.

(01:20:05) Contact Information.

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Summary of findings 2 years in:

• A monthly universal basic income (UBI) empowered recipients and did not create idleness. They invested, became more entrepreneurial, and earned more. The common concern of “laziness” never materialized, as recipients did not work less nor drink more. 
• Both a large lump sum and a long-term UBI proved highly effective. The lump sum enabled big investments and the guarantee of 12 years of UBI encouraged savings and risk-taking.
• A short-term UBI was the least impactful of the designs but still effective. On nearly all important economic measures, a 2-year-only UBI performed less well than giving cash as a large lump sum or guaranteeing a long-term UBI, despite each group having received roughly the same total amount of money at this point. However, it still had a positive impact on most measures.
• Governments should consider changing how they deliver cash aid. Short-term monthly payments [...]

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Outline:

(02:37) A monthly UBI made people in poverty more productive, not less

(03:57) Giving $500 as a lump sum improved economic outcomes more than giving it out over 24 months

(06:27) The promise of a long-term UBI encouraged saving and investment

(07:43) This research should inform how cash is given to people in extreme poverty

(10:28) Study design

The original text contained 6 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

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I'm Ezra, CEO of EA Israel, but am writing this in a personal capacity. My goal in writing this is to give the community a sense of what someone from a decent-sized local EA group is going through during a time of national crisis. I'll try to keep the post relatively apolitical, but since this is such a charged topic, I'm not sure I'll succeed. I will say that I’m quite nervous about the responses to the post, since the forum can sometimes lean towards criticism. Ideally, I’d want people who are reading this to do so with a sense of compassion, while keeping in mind that this is a difficult time and difficult topic to post or share experiences about. I also don't want the comments to be a discussion of the war per se, but of the experiences of an EA during the war. Finally, I'm sure that [...]

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Outline:

(01:25) So what have I been doing since the outbreak of the war?

(04:09) How has my experience changed the way I think about EA concepts?

(04:35) Donation recommendations

(05:39) Important aspects of suffering arent captured by usual metrics

(06:17) Theres even more moral uncertainty

(07:39) Caring about people far away can go wrong if the topic is trending

(08:44) Models of complex situations can be overly simplistic and harmful

(11:24) Optimisation is irrelevant

(12:59) Ambition to improve the world

(14:06) The importance of peace

The original text contained 1 footnote which was omitted from this narration.

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Summary.

• EA Infrastructure Fund (EAIF)[1] has historically had a somewhat scattershot focus within “EA meta.” This makes it difficult for us to know what to optimize for or for donors to evaluate our performance
• We propose that we switch towards focusing our grantmaking on Principles-First EA[2]
• This includes supporting:
  • research that aids prioritization across different cause areas
  • projects that build communities focused on impartial, scope sensitive and ambitious altruism
  • infrastructure, especially epistemic infrastructure, to support these aims
• We hope that the tighter focus area will make it easier for donors and community members to evaluate the EA Infrastructure Fund, and decide for themselves whether EAIF is a good fit to donate to or otherwise support
• Our tentative plan is to collect feedback from the community, donors, and stakeholders until the end of this year. Early 2024 will focus on refining our approach and helping ease transition for grantees. We'll begin piloting our new vision in Q2 2024.

Introduction and background [...]

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Outline:

(01:17) Introduction and background context

(04:29) Proposal

(05:10) Examples of projects under the new EAIF's purview

(06:01) Examples of projects that are outside of the updated scope

(06:46) Why focus on Principles-First EA?

(08:43) Potential Metrics

(10:05) Potential Alternatives for Donors and Grantees

(10:52) Tentative Timeline

(11:46) Appendices

(11:53) Examples of projects that I (Caleb) would be excited for this fund to support

(13:00) Scope Assessment of Hypothetical EAIF Applications

(15:53) Key Considerations

The original text contained 5 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

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Charity Entrepreneurship in collaboration with Giving What We Can is opening a new program to launch 4-6 new Effective Giving Initiatives (EGIs) in 2024. We expect them to raise millions in counterfactual funding for highly impactful charities, even in their first few years.

[Applications are open now]

In recent years Doneer Effectief, Effektiv Spenden & Giving What We Can have moved huge sums of money ($1.4m, $35m and $330m, respectively) to the best charities globally. We aim to build on their experience and success by launching new EGIs in highly promising locations. These initiatives can be fully independent or run in collaboration with existing organizations, depending on what is most impactful. We’ll provide the training, the blueprints, and the all-important seed funding.

This 8-week full-time, fully cost-covered program will run online from April 15 to June 7, 2024, with 2 weeks in person in London. We encourage individuals from all countries [...]

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Outline:

(01:31) Who is this program for?

(02:35) Why do we think this is promising?

(04:17) Our top recommended target countries

(05:25) Should you apply?

(06:43) Application process

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To EAs, "development economics" evokes the image of RCTs on psychotherapy or deworming. That is, after all, the closest interaction between EA and development economists. However, this characterization has prompted some pushback, in the form of the argument that all global health interventions pale in comparison to the Holy Grail: increasing economic growth in poor countries. After all, growth increases basically every measure of wellbeing on a far larger scale than any charity intervention, so it's obviously more important than any micro-intervention. Even a tiny chance of boosting growth in a large developing country will have massive expected value, more than all the GiveWell charities you can fund.

The argument is compelling[1] and well-received - so why haven't "growth interventions" gone anywhere? I think the EA understanding of growth is just too abstract to yield really useful interventions that EA organizations could lobby for or implement directly. We need specific [...]

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Outline:

(02:31) Sectoral Transformation

(03:21) 1. Agricultural productivity growth can drive sectoral transformation... or hurt it.

(08:44) 2. Education leads people to move out of agriculture (but with some negative spillovers).

(10:39) 3. Barriers to reallocation are surprisingly small; people select into sectors based on their skills.

(12:36) 4. Most sectoral transformation today comes from people moving into services, not manufacturing.

The original text contained 5 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

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tl;dr: It actually seems pretty rare for people to care about the general good as such (i.e., optimizing cause-agnostic impartial well-being), as we can see by prejudged dismissals of EA concern for non-standard beneficiaries and for doing good via indirect means.

Introduction.

Moral truisms may still be widely ignored. The moral truism underlying Effective Altruism is that we have strong reasons to do more good, and it's worth adopting the efficient promotion of the impartial good among one's life projects. (One can do this in a “non-totalizing” way, i.e. without it being one's only project.) Anyone who personally adopts that project (to any non-trivial extent) counts, in my book, as an effective altruist (whatever their opinion of the EA movement and its institutions).

Many people don’t adopt this explicit goal as a personal priority to any degree, but still do significant good via more particular commitments (to more specific communities, causes, or individuals). [...]

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Outline:

(03:14) Let's be honest

(08:36) OK, but what about the actual movement/institutions?

(09:32) Serious Evaluation Goes Beyond Vibes

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Linkpost URL:
https://rychappell.substack.com/p/doing-good-effectively-is-unusual

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effektiv-spenden.org is an effective giving platform in Germany and Switzerland that was founded in 2019. To reflect on our past impact, we examine Effektiv Spenden's cost-effectiveness as a "giving multiplier" from 2019 to 2022 in terms of how much money is directed to highly effective charities due to our work. We have two primary reasons for this analysis:

1. To provide past and future donors with transparent information about our cost-effectiveness;
2. To hold ourselves accountable, particularly in a situation where we are investing in further growth of our platform.

We provide both a simple multiple (or “leverage ratio”) of donations raised for highly effective charities compared to our operating costs, as well as an analysis of the counterfactual (i.e. what would have happened had we never existed).

Our analysis complements our Annual Review 2022 (in German) and builds on previous updates and annual reviews, such as, amongst others, our reviews of 2021 and 2019. [...]

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Outline:

(02:07) Key results

(03:56) How to interpret our results

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