This is a misuse of the word can’t. People can, but people don’t want to.
it’s unclear we could manage eradication at this point, with the spread where it is—and calling for it is a waste of our time
If I don’t say what the correct answer is because I and others believe that people won’t listen, then I’m not doing my job as a rationalist. My top loyalty is to the truth, even if I am 99.99% sure people won’t listen.
That might be the main point of disagreement—I’m much more interested in effective altruism in pandemic preparedness than it making true claims that are irrelevant to decision-making.
true claims that are irrelevant to decision-making
I think these true claims are highly relevant even if there is a very high chance that none of the authorities will follow them.
Covid-19 is a comparatively mild test of humanity’s capacity to fight dangerous diseases. It’s not the “real thing”, the disease X that could kill hundreds of millions of people or bring our civilization crashing down.
As such I think it’s very important for rationalists to build up a track record of making the right calls.
My only regret is that I didn’t express a strong opinion even earlier in January.
This is a misuse of the word can’t. People can, but people don’t want to.
If I don’t say what the correct answer is because I and others believe that people won’t listen, then I’m not doing my job as a rationalist. My top loyalty is to the truth, even if I am 99.99% sure people won’t listen.
That might be the main point of disagreement—I’m much more interested in effective altruism in pandemic preparedness than it making true claims that are irrelevant to decision-making.
I think these true claims are highly relevant even if there is a very high chance that none of the authorities will follow them.
Covid-19 is a comparatively mild test of humanity’s capacity to fight dangerous diseases. It’s not the “real thing”, the disease X that could kill hundreds of millions of people or bring our civilization crashing down.
As such I think it’s very important for rationalists to build up a track record of making the right calls.
My only regret is that I didn’t express a strong opinion even earlier in January.