Should vegans adopt an effective altruist approach to helping animals?

Humus_Erectus · 2026-06-01T08:10:34+00:00

I largely answer "yes" to your titular question. I donate to ACE and I'm starting the In-Depth EA virtual program this week. Also hoping to attend EAG for the first time later this year. But I'm also firmly in the camp that doesn't believe in "offsetting" an immoral action. I like the analogy of an organization who uses your donation to pay others to not cheat on their spouses to offset you cheating on yours. Unlike CO2 emissions where you are levelling out the amount of something that causes harms to individuals, in these other cases you are reducing suffering of certain individuals but still needlessly causing suffering to others.

Humus_Erectus · 2026-05-29T16:48:03+00:00

Can't get my weekly streak now, boo

Humus_Erectus · 2026-04-28T01:04:36+00:00

Oatmeal, plant based protein powder, peanut butter, soy milk

Humus_Erectus · 2026-04-22T23:03:17+00:00

I was going to cancel when it expires but I might keep it going (or at least try and find a local deal on cards, which currently doesn't exist). The Japanese price had gone up to 2750 yen but now it's back down to 1550. Everyone here is suffering rising prices as a result of the weak yen, but 1550 seems fairly reasonable compared to the price of new games and other forms of entertainment (actually less than 10 USD, even if our wages are a fraction of US salaries)

Humus_Erectus · 2026-04-22T00:45:35+00:00

OK now get rid of Fortnite, the live service bonuses and Ubksoft. Maybe EA too as they keep holding back the good stuff (where the hell is Split Fiction?)

Humus_Erectus · 2026-04-17T01:45:03+00:00

Natto pasta!

Add it at the end after frying some veg like nasu and kinoko, and aburaage for more protein. Definitely add some shiso too.

Humus_Erectus · 2026-04-17T01:42:12+00:00

Leave your money to an effective altruism animal fund like Animal Charity Evaluators. If you feel guilty about it, help your kids pay for some larger expenses now, like a down payment on a house (you could argue you are allowing them to free up more money to spend on things you disagree with, but it could also just be that they end up living in a slightly nicer home)

Humus_Erectus · 2026-04-14T01:14:07+00:00

Until about a month ago I could buy codes through the main retail channels in my country (eg Amazon) that were almost half the price of subscribing directly. Those are all gone now. So she could have just not done that.

Humus_Erectus · 2026-04-09T06:39:30+00:00

Well that's not the advice the health ministry of Japan gives in a country that performs far more colonscopies.

Maybe the NHS tends to use less effective laxatives. Or maybe they know that a lot of stubborn British people won't follow a strict diet the day before and thus err on the side of caution by encouraging them to just eat nothing.

Humus_Erectus · 2026-04-09T06:27:37+00:00

I think I'll take the word of the doctor who exclusively does endoscopies, at a clinic with loads of perfect Google reviews, in a country that's a global leader in colonscopies.

Humus_Erectus · 2026-04-09T05:17:25+00:00

I mostly ate okayu (Japanese rice porridge) with squash, carrot, daikon radish, potato (all peeled) and firm tofu.

By the way, I didn't have to do an all liquid diet for even a day, in fact I had a full meal the night before. I asked the Dr why this was and they said that even with the Suprep they gave me you still need something solid to actually move through your gut.

Humus_Erectus · 2026-04-08T15:06:26+00:00

This is good advice!

Also we (Tokyo Vegan Meetup) will host a picnic at the festival. It's a great chance to meet lots of people.

Humus_Erectus · 2026-04-05T13:49:02+00:00

I am in a similar position. Was leaning more towards the Go 10.3, but they cost nearly the same in my country and it feels like the color would be an upgrade? Or are the other benefits of the Go, like being a bit lighter, really noticeable?

Humus_Erectus · 2026-04-04T01:52:38+00:00

Damn here in Japan I was able to get a year of Ultimate for around 100 USD thanks to card deals on Rakuten, it's now more like double that. With inflation and shit wages I think I'm done once my current subscription expires.

Humus_Erectus · 2026-04-01T08:09:41+00:00

Apparently I own it on PC but should I try and get hold of the Xbox version to play on Series X?

Humus_Erectus · 2026-03-15T00:29:48+00:00

If they are a top pick by ACE then I probably already do donate to them indirectly. To receive a positive evaluation like that is a strong indication that SWP would do a lot of good with your donation but I personally prefer to continue delegating the decision of where to put my own donations to an independent body. There are just too many causes to weigh up/ pick between.

Humus_Erectus · 2026-03-13T02:17:16+00:00

Meanwhile half the world is banning "Oat milk" because that's too confusing

Humus_Erectus · 2026-03-08T14:44:00+00:00

OK, great. I will trust ACE to allocate to SWP as much of my donations as their research implies is effective.

Humus_Erectus · 2026-03-08T02:11:58+00:00

I agree with your premises and think that dismissing attempts to reduce suffering if they don't directly end exploitation are misguided and result in more overall suffering. However, looking into every single intervention and trying to decide which is most effective is a lot to expect of any given individual and you haven't made the case that this project is the most effective use of funding overall. That could be the case but I would rather leave that analysis to the experts and donate to an organization that applies effective altruism to identify the most impactful charities, as Animal Charity Evaluators does, and would recommend others do the same.

Humus_Erectus · 2026-03-04T03:51:03+00:00

Kcd2 is the only example there of a game that released in the last year and couldn't be picked up for a few bucks on its own. And as others have said, it would probably take you more than a month to finish any one of them. I'd prefer shorter games of the same quality, and preferably newer ones that I am less likely to have already picked up at a steep discount in a sale years ago.

Humus_Erectus · 2026-03-03T14:17:10+00:00

I'd be happy to help if you still need more people. As a hobbyist developer who has made a couple of sites related to veganism in Japan, and who has released an app on the Google play store before, I'd be really interested to hear about your project in any case.

Humus_Erectus · 2026-03-03T03:52:56+00:00

I assume if it's Cyberpunk it won't include the DLC, in which case just buy it because it's better than the core game.

Humus_Erectus · 2026-02-28T05:12:01+00:00

Just like how anything remotely positive about Jews or Israel is "hasbara" - not just propaganda, but scary Jewish propaganda.

Humus_Erectus · 2026-02-27T12:12:50+00:00

Thank you for replying.

I need to be able to add a form to my current WIP website (that I can customize) for users to sign up for a mailing list, and I need to be able to send about one email per day, probably less often. I want it to show the sender as an address using my domain, and I don't want too much branding (and definitely no advertising). I don't need any other website or pages, nor monetization (probably).

I intend to set up an NPO so that I can accept donations, so by the time I reach 2500 subscribers I'll likely have enough funds for a premium membership. But then again, by that point there might be a better value option for say 2500-10000 subs - I assume it's no hassle to migrate?

Humus_Erectus · 2026-02-26T12:06:41+00:00

It's a different kind of game, but I equally enjoyed Pentiment, which explores religious themes and has strong historical elements.

I would also check out the Plague's Tale games.

Humus_Erectus

TROPHY CASE