All of spanrucker's Comments + Replies
Thanks for the positive feedback Matt! I have to say, as someone outside the world of academia/ai/economics/nonprofits etc I sometimes find the face of EA a little dry and quite 'heady,' so I wanted to express the joyful feeling I had when I found out there was a way I could be more certain of my actions having a positive impact on the world! Every year when I donate I feel a great sense of satisfaction and purpose to know that there are highly effective ways to improve the lives of others, and that I can contribute to that. I think that's a message worth sharing!
Thanks for the feedback Linda! That's really useful to know, can you identify any way it might have been more successful in doing that for you? I imagine it's hard to know because you DO already know about EA, but any guesses would be appreciated!
I wonder if it's even possible to change someone's mind in a three minute youtube vid? I was hoping more to spark interest for people to investigate further and make their own mind up.
One of my doubts about this vid is that it maybe tries to talk about too many different arguments, where it might have been more impactful if it focussed on just one message.
Cheers for the kind words Nathan, and for all the feedback!
In actual fact I didn't make the video with children in mind originally, more as just a playful and colourful celebration of the work of TLYCS. I totally see how it comes across as aiming at kids (it's cartoons and puppets, fergoodnesssake), and I think based on feedback TLYCS received they've decided to use it this way. I really hope it isn't construed as being patronising, though I can see how it might!
I'm totally up for exploring other tones and ways to discuss ideas aro...
Thank you kindly Peter! I'm hoping I might be able to do more EA related video making in the future.
I enjoyed this, thanks! I just wanted to try and articulate a thought regarding failure. It feels simple in my head but I'm finding it hard to express it clearly!
It's something like: a failure is only a failure if looked at in isolation. If instead it's seen as part of a wider collection of failures and successes it is a necessary part of trial and error that helps move towards overall success.
If a project a person is working on turns out to be a dead end compared to another project that turns out to be highly impactful, the person working o...
Yeah ALLFED sprang to my mind too.
There's a bit more about the actual production process in this article: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/43zdag/this-startup-is-making-food-mostly-out-of-air-and-electricity
Also a bit of discussion around how feasible it will be to scale up.
Yes, ALLFED has talked to the company. It is a far more efficient use of electricity than turning into light and then photosynthesis (vertical farming). But at least at current prices, the natural gas digesting single cell protein would be even lower cost. We are planning on looking into it further, e.g. for diet diversification.
When climate change risks are discussed on this forum I mostly see it framed in terms of whether or not it is an existential risk. Considering a large part if EA is focused on reducing global poverty and the suffering of all living creatures I’m surprised not to see the potential impact of climate change in these areas discussed more often.
Is it possible that the potential of climate change to increase global poverty and suffering (of both humans and animals) is large enough to warrant more preventative attention within EA?
It’s all very well that the likel
...A lil update here, I've been in talks with two EA related organisations so far and have one project in the works already, so that's very exciting! I'll update more as things develop. Thanks for your help and suggestions, everybody!
Heheh it can go two ways, eh? Sometimes it's fun but sometimes it's cringy... a fine line to tread! But it could work depending on the project :)
I've considered RadicalxChange, part of what encouraged me to post on this forum was that podcast actually. I'm going to get in touch with them once I've read Radical Markets and can understand it a bit better.
Thanks for your thoughts! I'd not thought of it from a startup point of view, but yeah it makes sense to compare as, like you say, they optimise vigorously.
THANK YOU so much for this thoughtful reply Aaron, I really appreciate it! Some responses to your thoughts:
1. You ever heard the screenwriting rule "show, don't tell"? YA JUST DID IT with this friendly response! :)
2. That's actually really encouraging to read! I don't usually tell people about my giving practise because it feels a bit ego driven - like, "ooh aren't I a good person!" etc. It can feel quite solitary at times as I mostly work alone. So it's a helpful boost to read your encouragement, thank you!
3. C...
Thanks for the thoughtful feedback Linda, and for taking the time to watch the video so many times! I appreciate it!
It's all good food for thought and I'm going to mull on it. I have to say I agree with your last point that when the purple character suddenly accepts TLYCS and changes his mind it feels too easy and unrealistic. This has been bugging me too, but I only noticed it when it was too late to change! Still, it's all good learning and hopefully the next project like this I work on I'll be able to use what I've learned to good effect :)
Thanks again for your time and consideration!