site banner
suy  2yr ago (astralcodexten.substack.com)   Edited 2yr ago   4226 thread views

Scott Alexander on Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX and Effective Altruism

astralcodexten.substack.com

I made this a top level post because I think people here might want to discuss it but you can remove it if it doesn't meet your standards.

Edit: removed my opinion of Scott from the body

15
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Scott is posting some nuclear-grade copium here.

Edit: For a pretty good explanation of why I think so, see e.g. TheGodfatherBaritone's comment in the linked thread.

Maybe, but if you're not going to explain why you think so, then just saying so is objectionably low effort. Please don't do this.

OK, noted.

He's only human. This is a big (relatively) scandal and it hits home to where he has interests, where he has friends or people in the same circles, and where he was getting money from himself (if I'm right on that last one). Yet another sex scandal in the Catholic church? Means nothing to him, he can talk about it objectively. Financial scandal in politics? Ditto. Financial scandal in his neck of the woods? Here's why it's not our fault!

I can't blame him for reacting like this. Anyone who is on the outside and writing about this is tarring EA with the same brush of fraud and embezzlement and swindling, and it's going to take a while to get out from under and find out what happened when where to whom, not to mention all the organisations and people who were awarded grants from FTX money which has now gone up in smoke, and even worse for people who did get the money and now have no idea if they are going to be held liable for repaying it or what.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats