This post seems to be Eliezer’s own counter/qualification to Purchase Fuzzies and Utilons Separately. It seems very relevant here, and I’m surprised nobody has brought it up yet. Here’s a quote:
If we’re operating under the assumption that everyone by default is an altruistic akrasic (someone who wishes they could choose to do more) - or at least, that most potential supporters of interest fit this description—then fighting it out over which cause is the best to support, may have the effect of decreasing the overall supply of altruism.
“But,” you say, “dollars are fungible; a dollar you use for one thing indeed cannot be used for anything else!” To which I reply: But human beings really aren’t expected utility maximizers, as cognitive systems. Dollars come out of different mental accounts, cost different amounts of willpower (the true limiting resource) under different circumstances, people want to spread their donations around as an act of mental accounting to minimize the regret if a single cause fails, and telling someone about an additional cause may increase the total amount they’re willing to help.
Thanks for pointing the linked post out, I had not seen it before.
I’m aware of the points raised therein—I don’t hold actually hold rigidly to the Purchase Fuzzies and Utilons policy. In my top level post I was making a subjective judgment call that cryonics advocacy is so far from being cost-effective that it shouldn’t be on the table as a utilon-producing activity. But I may be wrong about this.
In particular, I think that a recent comment by lsparrish explaining his position is well considered. I look forward to talking more about this matter more with him sometime.
This post seems to be Eliezer’s own counter/qualification to Purchase Fuzzies and Utilons Separately. It seems very relevant here, and I’m surprised nobody has brought it up yet. Here’s a quote:
Thanks for pointing the linked post out, I had not seen it before.
I’m aware of the points raised therein—I don’t hold actually hold rigidly to the Purchase Fuzzies and Utilons policy. In my top level post I was making a subjective judgment call that cryonics advocacy is so far from being cost-effective that it shouldn’t be on the table as a utilon-producing activity. But I may be wrong about this.
In particular, I think that a recent comment by lsparrish explaining his position is well considered. I look forward to talking more about this matter more with him sometime.