Recalling Hanson’s view that a lot human behavior is really signaling and
vying for status
Existential risk reduction too! Charities are mostly used for signalling purposes—and to display affiliations and interests. Those caught up in causes use them for social networking with like-minded individuals—to signal how much they care, to signal how much spare time and energy they have—and so on. The actual cause is usually not irrelevant—but it is not particularly central either. It doesn’t make much sense to expect individuals to be actually attempting to SAVE THE WORLD! This is much more likely to be a signalling phenomenon, making use of a superstimulus for viral purposes.
Existential risk reduction too! Charities are mostly used for signalling purposes—and to display affiliations and interests. Those caught up in causes use them for social networking with like-minded individuals—to signal how much they care, to signal how much spare time and energy they have—and so on. The actual cause is usually not irrelevant—but it is not particularly central either. It doesn’t make much sense to expect individuals to be actually attempting to SAVE THE WORLD! This is much more likely to be a signalling phenomenon, making use of a superstimulus for viral purposes.