korrents

Matt Johnson

@matt-johnson · 6 positions · 0 changes of mind

Journalist and author writing on politics, liberalism and ideas; a contributor to Quillette and co-author of a book on Christopher Hitchens.

Matt Johnson did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

  1. Our reading

    Making humanity's long-term potential the overriding priority licenses imposing real costs on people who are alive today.

    Their wordsThe problem with these grand ambitions—saving humanity from extinction and enabling our species to reach its full potential millions of years from now—is that they ostensibly justify any cost in the present.

    ↗How Effective Altruism Lost Its Wayquillette.com 1st of 6 in this piece

    Interesting

  3. Our reading

    Moving money out of global health and into existential risk is a gamble paid for with lives that could have been saved now.

    Their wordsDiverting attention and resources from global health and poverty is an enormous gamble, as it will make many lives poorer, sicker, and shorter in the name of fending off threats that may or may not materialize.

    ↗How Effective Altruism Lost Its Wayquillette.com 2nd of 6 in this piece

    AI alignment

    Interesting

  5. Our reading

    A movement that has decided its job is to save humanity is uniquely prone to hubris, dogma and motivated reasoning.

    Their wordsThis is a worldview that’s uniquely susceptible to hubris, dogma, and motivated reasoning.

    ↗How Effective Altruism Lost Its Wayquillette.com 3rd of 6 in this piece

    Interesting

  7. Our reading

    Spending on existential risk cannot be held accountable, because there is no measurement that would ever show it failing.

    Their wordsUnlike other interventions EA has sponsored, there are scant metrics for tracking the success or failure of investments in existential risk mitigation.

    ↗How Effective Altruism Lost Its Wayquillette.com 4th of 6 in this piece

    AI alignment

    Interesting

  9. Our reading

    Effective altruism demands hard evidence of effectiveness in some of its causes while accepting abstract conjecture in others, and never justifies the split.

    Their wordsWhile there are interesting theoretical arguments for these causes, there’s a disconnect between an almost-neurotic focus on hard evidence of effectiveness in some areas of EA and a willingness to accept extremely abstract and conjectural “evidence” in others.

    ↗How Effective Altruism Lost Its Wayquillette.com 5th of 6 in this piece

    Interesting

  11. Our reading

    The more effective altruism has absorbed itself in saving humanity, the less humanistic it has become.

    Their wordsStrangely enough, as EA becomes more absorbed in the task of saving humanity, the movement is becoming less humanistic.

    ↗How Effective Altruism Lost Its Wayquillette.com 6th of 6 in this piece

    Interesting