1 . The optics of actually implementing this idea would be awful. It would permanently damage EA’s public image and be raised as a cudgel in every single expose written about the movement. To the average person, concluding that years in the life of the poorest are worth less than those of someone in a rich, first world country is an abhorrent statement, regardless of how well crafted your argument is.
2.1 It would be also be extremely difficult for rich foreigners to objectively assess the value of QALYs in the most globally impoverished nations, regardless of good intentions and attempts to overcome biases.
2.2 There is a fair amount of arbitrariness to metrics chosen to value someones life. You’ve mentioned womens rights, but we could look alternatively look at the suicide rate as a lower bound on the number of women in a society who believe more years of their life has negative value. By choosing this reasonable sounding metric, we can conclude that a year of a womans life in South Korea is much worse than a year of a womans life in Afghanistan. How confident are you that you’ll be able to find metrics which accurately reflect the value of a year of someones life?
The error in reasoning comes from making a utilitarian calculation without giving enough weight to the potential for flaws within the reasoning machine itself.
I strongly downvoted this post.
1 . The optics of actually implementing this idea would be awful. It would permanently damage EA’s public image and be raised as a cudgel in every single expose written about the movement. To the average person, concluding that years in the life of the poorest are worth less than those of someone in a rich, first world country is an abhorrent statement, regardless of how well crafted your argument is.
2.1 It would be also be extremely difficult for rich foreigners to objectively assess the value of QALYs in the most globally impoverished nations, regardless of good intentions and attempts to overcome biases.
2.2 There is a fair amount of arbitrariness to metrics chosen to value someones life. You’ve mentioned womens rights, but we could look alternatively look at the suicide rate as a lower bound on the number of women in a society who believe more years of their life has negative value. By choosing this reasonable sounding metric, we can conclude that a year of a womans life in South Korea is much worse than a year of a womans life in Afghanistan. How confident are you that you’ll be able to find metrics which accurately reflect the value of a year of someones life?
The error in reasoning comes from making a utilitarian calculation without giving enough weight to the potential for flaws within the reasoning machine itself.
How much would we have to pay you to move to Congo ?
Assuming I blend in and speak the local language, within an order of magnitude of 5 million (edit: USD)
I don’t feel your response meaningfully engaged with either of my objections.