Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?
This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.
Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
Effective altruism has always been around. Charities for thousands of years have been concerned with their own efficacy and how to improve it. Effective altruism just takes that a step further. I can't find it, but there's a great essay about how effective altruism is mostly "more things should be quantifiable." Previously things like life and death were so sacred that we as people hesitated to even definitively state that saving two lives is better than saving one.
I mean, worldwide productivity increased drastically right around that time. That made the social change possible. We got machines to do our work for us. Also, I'm not convinced that people before then were actually working more than eight hour days. There was a period during the industrial revolution where everybody was working their butts off, but before then it seems that most people had a somewhat more sedate lifestyle.
More options
Context Copy link