That’s not an example, it’s a claim with no evidence to support it. Give me an example of a person who has succeeded with only luck. There are about seven billion candidates so it shouldn’t be hard to select one.
James Harrison is the first example that leaps to my mind. His blood plasma contains a unique antibody which can be used to treat Rhesus disease, which seems like a near-perfect example of pure luck: neither he nor his parents nor anyone earned those antibodies in any useful sense of the word. He just coincidentally discovered that he had them. His lifetime blood donations are estimated to have treated two million children.
Now, James Harrison surely gets some credit for his. He has, after all, donated blood a thousand times, which is far better than most of us. And he made a pledge to start donating blood before he learned about his antibodies!
But a thousand blood donations, if you don’t happen to have unique biology, will be multiple orders of magnitude less effective at helping people than James Harrison was, for the same effort. To find people as successful in their goal of helping others as James Harrison, you have to look far beyond “people who donate blood regularly”. Perhaps Bill Gates, having become one of the richest men alive and then dedicating his life to charity, can claim to have accomplished more?
When blind luck can put some random guy in the same league as the world’s top altruist, it seems unreasonable to claim that literally nobody succeeds primarily through luck or by accident.
What is really important is subjective.
So?
Whatever you subjectively consider really important, you can get unlucky on those things. Also, some things like “not starving to death” or “not constantly being in pain” are subjectively important to basically everyone, and some get unlucky on these too.
I hadn’t heard of James Harrison before. I would consider him successful, of course that doesn’t mean that he considers himself successful or that you consider him successful.
I wouldn’t view donating blood as inherently good either. There have been times when people were given money to donate blood, but then AIDS came about...
When blind luck can put some random guy in the same league as the world’s top altruist
Ahh… you think the world’s top altruist is successful… That’s what we disagree about. I think the world’s top altruist is the person who desires the image of success the most.
FWIW the definition of Altruism I am using is NOT the same as the EA people… they’ve culturally appropriated that term and made it mean something very different from what Ayn Rand meant when she used it.
I think the world’s top altruist is the person who desires the image of success the most.
Who cares? You just spent half this thread claiming that success is subjective. Bill Gates and James Harrison are going by their own ideas of altruistic success, not yours.
(For what it’s worth, I personally do consider James Harrison successful at helping people. It explicitly was his goal, he made a pledge and everything.)
You just spent half this thread claiming that success is subjective
Really? I’m pretty sure I didn’t. Success is hard to define, but that doesn’t mean it’s subjective.
Bill Gates and James Harrison are going by their own ideas of altruistic success, not yours.
Oh really? Can you read their minds? I’ve read about Bill Gates motivations and I didn’t see the word altruism once. It’s all good and well to claim Bill Gates is part of your movement but for all you know he’s never heard of it.
Why don’t you call Jesus an altruist? Or some other religious figure?
Please tell us more about your inside information on the psychology of Bill and Melinda Gates
I have none. Just an opinion that given my posts downvote counts suggests that I shouldn’t share.
Ayn Rand did not invent the term “altruism”?
Neither did the Effective Altruism people. But Ayn Rand’s books have sold a lot and are read by influential people, so I’ll use her definition until I have a reason not to.
James Harrison is the first example that leaps to my mind. His blood plasma contains a unique antibody which can be used to treat Rhesus disease, which seems like a near-perfect example of pure luck: neither he nor his parents nor anyone earned those antibodies in any useful sense of the word. He just coincidentally discovered that he had them. His lifetime blood donations are estimated to have treated two million children.
Now, James Harrison surely gets some credit for his. He has, after all, donated blood a thousand times, which is far better than most of us. And he made a pledge to start donating blood before he learned about his antibodies!
But a thousand blood donations, if you don’t happen to have unique biology, will be multiple orders of magnitude less effective at helping people than James Harrison was, for the same effort. To find people as successful in their goal of helping others as James Harrison, you have to look far beyond “people who donate blood regularly”. Perhaps Bill Gates, having become one of the richest men alive and then dedicating his life to charity, can claim to have accomplished more?
When blind luck can put some random guy in the same league as the world’s top altruist, it seems unreasonable to claim that literally nobody succeeds primarily through luck or by accident.
So? Whatever you subjectively consider really important, you can get unlucky on those things. Also, some things like “not starving to death” or “not constantly being in pain” are subjectively important to basically everyone, and some get unlucky on these too.
I hadn’t heard of James Harrison before. I would consider him successful, of course that doesn’t mean that he considers himself successful or that you consider him successful.
I wouldn’t view donating blood as inherently good either. There have been times when people were given money to donate blood, but then AIDS came about...
Ahh… you think the world’s top altruist is successful… That’s what we disagree about. I think the world’s top altruist is the person who desires the image of success the most.
FWIW the definition of Altruism I am using is NOT the same as the EA people… they’ve culturally appropriated that term and made it mean something very different from what Ayn Rand meant when she used it.
Who cares? You just spent half this thread claiming that success is subjective. Bill Gates and James Harrison are going by their own ideas of altruistic success, not yours.
(For what it’s worth, I personally do consider James Harrison successful at helping people. It explicitly was his goal, he made a pledge and everything.)
Really? I’m pretty sure I didn’t. Success is hard to define, but that doesn’t mean it’s subjective.
Oh really? Can you read their minds? I’ve read about Bill Gates motivations and I didn’t see the word altruism once. It’s all good and well to claim Bill Gates is part of your movement but for all you know he’s never heard of it.
Why don’t you call Jesus an altruist? Or some other religious figure?
Please tell us more about your inside information on the psychology of Bill and Melinda Gates.
You do understand, don’t you, that Ayn Rand did not invent the term “altruism”?
I have none. Just an opinion that given my posts downvote counts suggests that I shouldn’t share.
Neither did the Effective Altruism people. But Ayn Rand’s books have sold a lot and are read by influential people, so I’ll use her definition until I have a reason not to.