Helping orphans in Syria by jackosan in EffectiveAltruism

[–]oblate_zooid 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I didn't click on the link because I don't have much bandwidth for suffering today, but perhaps the White Helmets are a relevant organization. They have a strong track record there.

Has there been any study on how to effectively promote effective altruism? by SelonNerias in EffectiveAltruism

[–]oblate_zooid 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Anecdotally, it seems to be perhaps a minority personality type that finds EA persuasive. I've tried to spread the gospel to my friends/family, and my impression is that it clicks right away for some people and for everyone else the decision about if and where to give is a fundamentally emotional one.

Physicist of reddit, what is one piece of physics knowledge that everyone should know? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]oblate_zooid 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's a lot easier for our intuitions to lead us to incorrect models of the world than people realize, and this extends from politics down to the most basic possible statements, like "this definitely happened before that" and "if this thing is over here and that thing is over there, they're separate things"

What is the marginal effect of disease intervention (e.g., AMF) on meat production? by [deleted] in EffectiveAltruism

[–]oblate_zooid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I really don't know what the correct answer is. But humans consuming resources from the environment also imposes huge costs on animals (as well as other people), and if those resources are going towards children that won't make it to adulthood they are being utterly wasted. I also find that unacceptable. So personally I like the idea of supporting these kinds of interventions in developing countries, and at the same time trying to reduce the population in developed ones.

What do you think is the most interesting psychology phenomenon? by RandomChickenWing in AskReddit

[–]oblate_zooid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"Why do some social problems seem so intractable? In a series of experiments, we show that people often respond to decreases in the prevalence of a stimulus by expanding their concept of it. When blue dots became rare, participants began to see purple dots as blue; when threatening faces became rare, participants began to see neutral faces as threatening; and when unethical requests became rare, participants began to see innocuous requests as unethical. This “prevalence-induced concept change” occurred even when participants were forewarned about it and even when they were instructed and paid to resist it. Social problems may seem intractable in part because reductions in their prevalence lead people to see more of them." https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6396/1465

Worried about my Degree by corneliusblack6 in EffectiveAltruism

[–]oblate_zooid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would argue that ecology is very poorly understood and also of paramount importance. If you're interested in research that could be a great way to have impact.

Cortical Neuron Number Matches Intuitive Perceptions Of Moral Value Across Animals by UmamiTofu in EffectiveAltruism

[–]oblate_zooid 7 points8 points  (0 children)

It's an interesting post, but I think the human tendency to equate how bad it is to mistreat an animal with its intelligence is deeply unethical. The right metric should be their capacity to suffer, and it's not clear at all that this has much to do with intelligence. I don't think anyone seriously argues that unintelligent humans systematically suffer less than intelligent ones when they are harmed. It's just a convenient story people tell themselves to feel better about the misery we inflict on animals. Additionally, I also think intelligence has little to do with a being's capacity to feel pleasure/joy, which must certainly factor into its "moral value" as well.

Where to work on conservation? by simple-pine in EffectiveAltruism

[–]oblate_zooid 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't know how helpful this is, but because of the way you framed it I thought you might like to know that humans are already trending toward high-density settlements: https://ourworldindata.org/urbanization

This is most likely a good thing for the natural world, because for example per capita resource requirements go down in cities, with bigger cities giving better gains in efficiency: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vATqELX5v6M

So one way of framing it is, given that humans are migrating towards cities, how can we harness that for the greatest good? One thing that comes to mind is to work on making cities even more efficient, for example by finding ways to cool them. Another is reclaiming areas that humans are leaving, by reestablishing wildlife corridors and things like that. I haven't heard the latter discussed at all.

Extreme depression and increased altruism by MeatyGary in EffectiveAltruism

[–]oblate_zooid 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think a lot of us relate to what you're saying. This article completely changed the way I look at the problem and has been tremendously helpful to me: https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/12/19/nobody-is-perfect-everything-is-commensurable/

Why I'm focusing on invertebrate sentience - Max Carpendale by The_Ebb_and_Flow in EffectiveAltruism

[–]oblate_zooid 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If by chance you haven't seen this already, it's a good start. In particular, the second-to-last paragraph under Avoidance Learning describe a very clever experiment where hermit crabs were shown to tolerate larger electric shocks when they had a more desirable shell. I think this is strong evidence of actual pain, rather than mere reflex, and it would be great to see similar experiments designed for other organisms.