Stranger's college: asu.edu
You: Hello. 23. Interested in discussing Effective Altruism if you're willing to look it up
You: I'm curious, where did you read from?
Stranger: well I went through the top two results I got. One was effectivealtruism.org and the other was a wikipedia article
Stranger: so I just got an overview
You: wikipedia is the better of the two
You: unless you explore effectivealtruism.org
You: but, eh, effectivealtruism.org is kinda shitty for initial info
Stranger: Yeah, I kinda liked what the wiki page had to say more
You: Anything stand out to you?
Stranger: Well, probably just the fact that it is acting in a way that brings the best outcome based on that individuals values
Stranger: Unless I have it wrong
You: The behavior section will probably interesting
You: wikipedia.org/wiki/Effective_altruism#Behavior
Stranger: I didn't know donation was such a big part of it. I thought a good chunk of charities out there were pretty dishonest though
You: But that you assumed they weren't all sunshine and rainbows =)
You: There's this subculture in Effective Altruism (EA)
You: related to less wrong and "AI safety"
You: On discussion boards I've talked with a few of the avid less wrong readers
You: And that's a concept they seem to lack
You: I relate it to nonmaleficence
Stranger: So that subculture has to do with the dangers of artificial intelligence?
You: I agree that existential risks are important to think about and discuss
You: but it doesn't follow to support AI safety financially
You: Do you want to go into this topic?
Stranger: Maybe. I'm not well versed in any of this though
Stranger: Sorry if it's a bit of a drag
You: It's just lacking in tracktability/solvability.
You: Since strong AI doesn't exist. Those in support seem to think that strong AI is right around the corner
You: (1) Importance: What is the scale of the problem in the area? If all problems in the area could be solved, how much better would the world be? (2) Tractability: How solvable is the problem in this area? (3) Neglectedness: How neglected is the area?
You: Doesn't meat criteria
Stranger: How would you define a problem? Just something that is causing harm in the world?
You: That's a great question
You: I'd think it could be everything
You: Anything from cancer to obesity to an prison system
Stranger: Since it is based on one's own values, it really could be anything in this world?
You: I suppose it has to be somewhat realistic. But yes, different domains too: social, environmental, animal issues
You: And I should bring up, most EAs are vegan
You: Although, it seems to me that a lot of vegans don't know about Effective Altruism
You: (I'm not vegan, but perhaps someday.)
Stranger: Do you consider yourself EA?
You: I'm consistent (GWWC pledge)
You: I think it's not well known, even inside EA, that the student GWWC pledge minimum is 1% of my income.
You: Which is marginal (since I make less than $10k annually)
You: But the consistency is the key
Stranger: That sounds pretty reasonable
You: I once met this guy on a meditation retreat, and he said he gave a few dollars one time...which was nice but truly meaningless
You: (he gave to an effective charity_
Stranger: What are some organizations that are effective?
You: Depends on the cause area
You: Global (extreme) poverty, GiveWell.org ranks a select few
You: Animal charity evaluator is another site
You: And then you can do it yourself too
You: But eh, I'd rather not sift though 990 Forms
You: AMF and SCI are common knowledge/terms
You: Against Malaria Foundation
Stranger: I've gone through the wiki page a little more and the career selection part stood out to me quite a bit
You: Ya, 80,000 Hours is a big organization in EA
You: What's your major?
Stranger: I've always wondered how much people truly need to live
You: I love that question!
Stranger: Right now I'm in Pharmacology but I'm really not sure what to do
You: Is that a specialized biology?
You: I don't think I've ever met someone going for that major
Stranger: well I think it might be under different names at certain places. The full name is Pharmacology and Toxicology.
Stranger: There's a few things that you can do with it, and technically some would be unethical
You: Why or how did you choose it?
Stranger: Well there weren't too many majors that interested me, and I wanted to learn more about it I guess
Stranger: Another degree I considered was Geology, but most people end up working for oil companies, and that would definitely be unethical
Stranger: Well I'd highly dislike working for groups like that
Stranger: But the pharmaceutical companies could be worse though
You: Wouldn't someone else do it anyway?
You: So what would be the problem?
You: I guess you wouldn't want to do your job too well
Stranger: Well most people want to believe that they are doing something good for the world, or at least have the illusion of it
You: So what's your dream job in this field then?
Stranger: well I'm not really sure. Nobody is pushing me into studying it, and it's the major that sounds most interesting, but I have no real reason to study it
Stranger: I guess working as a pharmacist in a hospital sounds interesting
You: (I'm an electrical engineering major btw)
Stranger: I've always been interested in hospitals. I'm really not sure why. A lot of people recommend becoming a pharmacist instead of a doctor because there is less liability and you can still make a decent income without having to pay for malpractice insurance
You: Ha, I didn't know there was such a thing
