AFAICT charities generally have perverse incentives—to do what will bring in donations, rather than what will do the most good. That can usually argue against things like transparency, for example. So I think when Holden usually says “don’t donate to X yet” it’s as part of an effort to make these incentives saner.
As it happens, I don’t think this problem applies especially strongly to SI, but others may differ.
That is indeed relevant, in that it describes some perverse incentives and weird behaviors of nonprofits, with an interesting example. But knowing this context without having to click the link would have been useful. It is customary to explain what a link is about rather than just drop it.
Thanks for making this argument!
AFAICT charities generally have perverse incentives—to do what will bring in donations, rather than what will do the most good. That can usually argue against things like transparency, for example. So I think when Holden usually says “don’t donate to X yet” it’s as part of an effort to make these incentives saner.
As it happens, I don’t think this problem applies especially strongly to SI, but others may differ.
Relevant
That is indeed relevant, in that it describes some perverse incentives and weird behaviors of nonprofits, with an interesting example. But knowing this context without having to click the link would have been useful. It is customary to explain what a link is about rather than just drop it.
(Or at least it should be)