I'm truly confused by this section of the Chapter...Did I miss some pre-reading that I should have done? Why are we talking about communication in abstracts? What are LessWrongians? How does this relate to Effective Altruism? I understand the last few sections of the Chapter and how they fit into Effective Altruism. They're building up an argument about why people don't give to the most effective causes: an inability to care for things at magnitudes of scale and scale insensitivity. I also almost understand the context of the previous section - the TED Talk by Julia Galef. She's saying we need a "Scout Mindset" which is all about curiosity and openness. But this section feels a little out of the blue? Is it meant to make us aware of common cognitive biases...? I suppose so. But then: why list cognitive biases and then jump into why abstract communication often fails? (In a nutshell: I feel like I missed something somewhere! Would appreciate any guidance here!)
I'm truly confused by this section of the Chapter...Did I miss some pre-reading that I should have done? Why are we talking about communication in abstracts? What are LessWrongians? How does this relate to Effective Altruism? I understand the last few sections of the Chapter and how they fit into Effective Altruism. They're building up an argument about why people don't give to the most effective causes: an inability to care for things at magnitudes of scale and scale insensitivity. I also almost understand the context of the previous section - the TED Talk by Julia Galef. She's saying we need a "Scout Mindset" which is all about curiosity and openness. But this section feels a little out of the blue? Is it meant to make us aware of common cognitive biases...? I suppose so. But then: why list cognitive biases and then jump into why abstract communication often fails? (In a nutshell: I feel like I missed something somewhere! Would appreciate any guidance here!)