I’m confused by Robin Hanson’s comment and the fact that it’s voted up to 7. Is there some reason to suspect that GiveWell’s reputation as an independent evaluator of charities is undeserved, or was Robin making some other point?
If they want to see a critical review of GiveWell’s estimates, then they need to make a case that doing such a review is a good use of someone’s time and resources, and also give some indication of what they consider to be an acceptable critical review. I mean, by all indications GiveWell is itself an independent, critical, reviewer of charities, so if they’re not satisfied with it, why would they be satisfied with any hypothetical meta-reviewer?
GiveWell is an independent evaluator, or at least the closest thing that exists in the world of philanthropy.
I’m confused by Robin Hanson’s comment and the fact that it’s voted up to 7. Is there some reason to suspect that GiveWell’s reputation as an independent evaluator of charities is undeserved, or was Robin making some other point?
Simple: the upvoters would also like to see a critical review of GiveWell estimates.
If they want to see a critical review of GiveWell’s estimates, then they need to make a case that doing such a review is a good use of someone’s time and resources, and also give some indication of what they consider to be an acceptable critical review. I mean, by all indications GiveWell is itself an independent, critical, reviewer of charities, so if they’re not satisfied with it, why would they be satisfied with any hypothetical meta-reviewer?