Can effective altruism be redeemed?
How trying to do the most good went wrong
January 23, 2023
1 hr 1 min
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575 of 775
January 23, 2023
Can effective altruism be redeemed?
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Gray Area Episodes Around January 23, 2023
Episode 575 of 775 — walk the feed in the order it was published.
Can effective altruism be redeemed?
Summary
Guest host Sigal Samuel talks with Holden Karnofsky about effective altruism, a movement flung into public scrutiny with the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried and his crypto exchange, FTX. They discuss EA’s approach to charitable giving, the relationship between effective altruism and the moral philosophy of utilitarianism, and what reforms might be needed for the future of the movement.
Note: In August 2022, Bankman-Fried’s philanthropic family foundation, Building a Stronger Future, awarded Vox’s Future Perfect a grant for a 2023 reporting project. That project is now on pause.
Host: Sigal Samuel (@SigalSamuel), Senior Reporter, Vox
Guest: Holden Karnofsky, co-founder of GiveWell; CEO of Open Philanthropy
References:
"Effective altruism gave rise to Sam Bankman-Fried. Now it's facing a moral reckoning" by Sigal Samuel (Vox; Nov. 16, 2022)
"The Reluctant Prophet of Effective Altruism" by Gideon Lewis-Kraus (New Yorker; Aug. 8, 2022)
"Sam Bankman-Fried tries to explain himself" by Kelsey Piper (Vox; Nov. 16, 2022)
"EA is about maximization, and maximization is perilous" by Holden Karnofsky (Effective Altruism Forum; Sept. 2, 2022)
"Defending One-Dimensional Ethics" by Holden Karnofsky (Cold Takes blog; Feb. 15, 2022)
"Future-proof ethics" by Holden Karnofsky (Cold Takes blog; Feb. 2, 2022)
"Bayesian mindset" by Holden Karnofsky (Cold Takes blog; Dec. 21, 2021)
"EA Structural Reform Ideas" by Carla Zoe Cremer (Nov. 12, 2022)
"Democratising Risk: In Search of a Methodology to Study Existential Risk" by Carla Cremer and Luke Kemp (SSRN; Dec. 28, 2021)
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This episode was made by:
Producer: Erikk Geannikis
Editor: Amy Drozdowska
Engineer: Patrick Boyd
Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall
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