ACX
Contra Stone On EA
Scott Alexander critiques Lyman Stone's arguments against Effective Altruism, defending the movement's impact, methodology, and philosophical foundations.
35 min read 5,420 words
A thread through the archive
effective altruism
Essays tagged “effective altruism”. Follow an idea across the archive.
Essays on effective altruism
105 essaysACX
Mantic Monday 5/13/24
Scott Alexander reviews recent developments in prediction markets and forecasting, including regulatory changes, platform pivots, and debates about the field's future.
33 min read 5,080 words
ACX
ACX Grants Results 2024
Scott Alexander announces the winners of ACX Grants 2024, covering a diverse range of projects from medical research to policy advocacy.
29 min read 4,390 words
ACX
Seems Like Targeting
Scott Alexander examines how investigative journalism can target unpopular individuals or groups, using recent examples to illustrate the potential chilling effects and biases in media coverage.
12 min read 1,707 words
ACX
Against Learning From Dramatic Events
Scott Alexander argues against significantly updating beliefs based on single dramatic events, advocating for consistent policies based on pre-existing probability distributions.
26 min read 3,919 words
ACX
Highlights From The Comments On Capitalism & Charity
Scott Alexander responds to comments on his capitalism vs charity post, clarifying his argument and addressing various counterpoints and suggested capitalist charities.
37 min read 5,649 words
ACX
Does Capitalism Beat Charity?
Scott Alexander compares the marginal impact of capitalism vs. charity, finding that traditional charity often seems more effective despite capitalism's historical success.
16 min read 2,413 words
ACX
Apply For An ACX Grant (2024)
Scott Alexander announces the 2024 ACX Grants program, detailing its structure, funding, and new optional 'impact market' component for charitable and scientific projects.
14 min read 2,036 words
ACX
Contra DeBoer On Movement Shell Games
Scott Alexander defends effective altruism against Freddie deBoer's criticism, arguing for its distinctiveness, practical value, and positive marginal effects.
20 min read 3,071 words
ACX
In Continued Defense Of Effective Altruism
Scott Alexander defends effective altruism by highlighting its major accomplishments and arguing that its occasional missteps are outweighed by its positive impact on the world.
28 min read 4,266 words
ACX
My Left Kidney
Scott Alexander recounts his experience donating a kidney, from initial motivation to post-surgery recovery, while discussing the broader context of organ donation.
48 min read 7,380 words
ACX
Impact Market Mini-Grants Results
Scott Alexander reviews the results of the Impact Market Mini-Grants test run, discussing the top projects and lessons learned about this novel charitable funding method.
24 min read 3,631 words
ACX
Pause For Thought: The AI Pause Debate
Scott Alexander reviews a debate on AI development pauses, discussing various strategies and their potential impacts on AI safety and progress.
38 min read 5,768 words
ACX
Issue Two Of Asterisk
Scott Alexander reviews the second issue of Asterisk magazine, which focuses on food-related topics in rationalist and effective altruist contexts.
4 min read 577 words
ACX
If The Media Reported On Other Things Like It Does Effective Altruism
Scott Alexander satirizes media coverage of Effective Altruism by applying similar reporting tactics to other causes and movements.
5 min read 627 words
ACX
"Is Wine Fake?" In Asterisk Magazine
Scott Alexander announces the launch of Asterisk Magazine, highlighting various articles from its first issue, including his own piece on wine tasting.
5 min read 655 words
ACX
Mantic Monday: Twitter Chaos Edition
Scott Alexander analyzes prediction markets on Twitter, FTX, effective altruism, and US midterms, discussing their accuracy and exploring the concept of 'scandal markets'.
30 min read 4,529 words
ACX
Another Bay Area House Party
Scott Alexander presents a satirical account of a Bay Area house party, showcasing absurd startup ideas and intellectual discussions that parody Silicon Valley culture.
25 min read 3,825 words
ACX
Links For September 2022
Scott Alexander shares 40 diverse and intriguing links and news items from September 2022, covering topics from AI advancements to political analysis and cultural observations.
19 min read 2,870 words
ACX
Highlights From The Comments On The Repugnant Conclusion And WWOTF
Scott Alexander summarizes and responds to comments on his review of 'What We Owe The Future', addressing debates around population ethics, longtermism, and moral philosophy.
38 min read 5,888 words
ACX
Effective Altruism As A Tower Of Assumptions
Scott Alexander defends Effective Altruism by presenting it as a 'tower of assumptions,' arguing that critics often miss its core principles of systematic giving and maximizing impact.
9 min read 1,259 words
ACX
Book Review: What We Owe The Future
Scott Alexander reviews Will MacAskill's 'What We Owe The Future', a book arguing for longtermism and considering our moral obligations to future generations.
50 min read 7,661 words
ACX
Highlights From The Comments On Subcultures
Scott Alexander discusses reader comments on his cyclic theory of subcultures, addressing critiques and expanding on the model's applications and limitations.
31 min read 4,672 words
ACX
Highlights From The Comments On Criticism Of Criticism Of Criticism
Scott Alexander responds to comments on his post about criticism of EA, addressing various points about scientific paradigms, types of criticism, and the ethics of evangelism.
31 min read 4,662 words
ACX
Impact Markets: The Annoying Details
Scott Alexander discusses the technical implementation details of impact markets for charity funding, exploring various options and challenges.
56 min read 8,585 words