Key concepts: Moral circle expansion, Impartiality, Expected Value, ITN Framework, Cause Area Prioritization
Description: With modern eyes, many historical practices seem morally odious. But how do we know we’re not repeating our ancestor’s mistakes, and how should we go about avoiding doing so? Alongside this question, in this week, we'll explain the ideas of expected value, impartial altruism, and a framework for assessing the importance of different causes. You will then get the opportunity to dive deeper into a particular cause area. Make sure to take notes! During the session, you will present and explain the core ideas and reasons for prioritising them to the others, as well as your thoughts and opinions.
Required readings (~100 min.)
Radical Empathy Introduction (2 min.)
Radical Empathy (10 min.) - Argues that we should not trust conventional wisdom on which groups or beings merit moral consideration, with reference to historical track records.
On "fringe" ideas (10 min.) - How do we reduce the likelihood of having large moral blindspots?
Moral Progress and Cause X (3 min.) - “Cause X” - the huge problem we’re not even aware of yet.
Expected Value (5 min.) - How do we manage risk and make decisions under uncertainty?
How to find the world's most pressing problems (15 min.) - An explanation of Scale, Neglectedness and Solvability (ITN) framework
Introduction to relevant cause-areas:
Diseases in developing countries (7 min.)
Factory farming (6 min.)
Mental health (4 min.)
Immigration restrictions (5 min.)
Wild animal suffering (3 min.)
Air pollution (6 min.)
Choose one cause area and digest the material for it.
Global Health
Global Health - Our World in Data (26 min.)
Farmed Animal Welfare
Animal Welfare Cause Report (15 min.) - What are the conditions for farmed animals like, how neglected is the issue, and what are the best solutions?
Mental health
What are the best ways to improve world happiness? (video) (27 min.)
Immigration Restrictions
The case for open borders (36 min.)
Wild Animal Suffering
Animals in the wild often suffer a great deal. We ask Persis Eskander what — if anything — should we do about that (podcast) (177 min.)
No need to listen to the entirety
Air pollution
Santosh Harish on how air pollution is responsible for ~12% of global deaths — and how to get that number down (podcast) (178 min.)
Listen to the first 42 minutes
Write down your reflections on the readings in the box below
Some prompts:
Do you agree that we ought to be open to ‘strange’ arguments about which beings are of moral concern?
How likely do you think it is that we currently do not show moral concern to beings that deserve it? Why?
If you believe it is likely, what do you believe are our biggest moral blindspots? Why?
Why have we historically failed to recognise the moral importance of others?
Are there any general techniques or tools we can use to avoid being complicit in atrocities, given that it’s hard to know where we’re going wrong?
If you are 99% sure that insects are morally irrelevant, but think there is a 1% chance that they should be given some non-trivial amount of moral weight, how should you deal with the issue?
Which of the cause areas did you find most compelling and pressing?