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Effective altruism has a sexual harassment problem, women say

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Re: Effective altruism has a sexual harassment problem, women say

#241

Post by Acutulus »

grafporno wrote: post #194
atdrummond wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who has used opiates for well over a decade (for medical reasons), heroin and stronger synthetic opioids can absolutely cause an opioid naive individual to have withdrawal symptoms after even a week. This is why codeine OTC recommends no more than three consecutive days of use.

Wait, you've got over-the-counter opiates in the US (I assume it's the US)? What?

Speaking for the US, yes indeed. Loperamide is technically an opioid and available OTC, though that's rarely a sought after compound unless one is in dire straits.

Codeine is available with a pharmacist's approval alone in my state. So while it may not technically OTC by that definition (or is, I don't know how OTC is defined), it can be had without a prescription by visiting a participating pharmacy and simply requesting codeine+guaifenesin. Done it a few times myself.

Re: Effective altruism has a sexual harassment problem, women say

#242

Post by pyuser583 »

tablespoon wrote: post #41
JohnFen wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Effective Altruism is just a modern iteration of a thing that's been around for a very long time. The fundamental idea is sound. However, in practice, it all-too-easily devolves into something really terrible. Especially once people start down the path of thinking the needs of today aren't as important as the needs of a hypothetical future population. Personally, I started "tithing" when my first business was a succe…

> Effective Altruism is just a modern iteration of a thing that's been around for a very long time. Which you think is what, exactly? I'm under the impression that thing is warmed-over utilitarianism. > The fundamental idea is sound. I do not believe utilitarianism is sound, because its logic can be easily used to justify some obviously horrible things. However the framework appeals very strongly to "rationalist" typ…

There was a study a while ago that said people who accept utilitarianism are more likely to have psychopathic traits.

Re: Effective altruism has a sexual harassment problem, women say

#243

Post by [deleted] »

fsckboy wrote: post #238
zozbot234 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> many of the most effective aid organizations, all of which are absolutely off-the-charts obnoxious about fundraising This doesn't seem to jive much with what's reported by charity evaluators like GiveWell, or with what kinds of charitable organizations get grants from more traditional but still high-impact philanthropies like the B&MGF. It's quite plausible that too much emphasis on fund raising among the general p…

> seem to jive jibe. yes, words change and evolve, but I only mention it because to jive has another meaning, to BS somebody. I agree with your overall point about "I won't give to groups who tell me they need money" is a pretty high bar to set. However, GP's comment is in keeping with something I've come to think, which is organizations will re-form themselves around your donations (I give large amounts because I ca…

[deleted]

Re: Effective altruism has a sexual harassment problem, women say

#244

Post by mLuby »

walleeee wrote: post #95
yamtaddle wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've yet to see an argument for colonizing Mars for this purpose, that wouldn't be a better argument if the goal were instead "build robust, distributed bunkers on earth, and pay families to live in them part-time so there's always someone there". Cheaper, and more effective. Most plausible post-apocalyptic Earths would be far easier to live on than Mars. The remaining threats that wouldn't also be pretty likely to t…

> Most plausible post-apocalyptic Earths would be far easier to live on than Mars. thank you how are we supposed to build a second home on a dead, ruthlessly hostile planet until we demonstrate ourselves capable of stabilizing the biosphere and building a sustainable long-term civilization here Earth is easy mode compared to Mars

It goes both ways. Learning to live on a dead world like Mars (or better yet, off-world altogether) will necessarily entail significant improvements in recycling, atmospheric control, and energy management. Those same technologies could be critical to reversing the damage we've done to our homeworld and enabling us to live on it sustainably.

Re: Effective altruism has a sexual harassment problem, women say

#245

Post by SOLAR_FIELDS »

Acutulus wrote: post #241
grafporno wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, you've got over-the-counter opiates in the US (I assume it's the US)? What?

Speaking for the US, yes indeed. Loperamide is technically an opioid and available OTC, though that's rarely a sought after compound unless one is in dire straits. Codeine is available with a pharmacist's approval alone in my state. So while it may not technically OTC by that definition (or is, I don't know how OTC is defined), it can be had without a prescription by visiting a participating pharmacy and simply reque…

Codeine + cough syrup is so popular in Texas that it spawned an entire subculture dedicated to its use. See DJ Screw in Houston (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/DJ_Screw).

Lest you think this is no longer the case - “lean”, as it is known by Houstonites (due to your tendency to lean on things while under the influence) was a major plot point of a recent mostly autobiographical Netflix series centered around Houston that was released late last year: https://www.keranews.org/arts-culture/2022-08-25/houston-ooz...

Re: Effective altruism has a sexual harassment problem, women say

#246

Post by nwiswell »

rejectfinite wrote: post #210
grafporno wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, you've got over-the-counter opiates in the US (I assume it's the US)? What?

The UK has codeine OTC... you assume. Everyone on the internet is american. Its funny. ahha

Not that unreasonable a guess. It's very late in Europe right now (currently 4 AM GMT, perhaps 2 AM when that was posted), and you know YC is an American company... right?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30210378

Re: Effective altruism has a sexual harassment problem, women say

#247

Post by [deleted] »

droopyEyelids wrote: post #212
kazinator wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

The point of a scam is that you fall for it due to a moral failing not a lack of aptitude/stupidity. In a scam people use their own intellect to justify chasing after some appetite, so smarter people just convince themselves harder. EA is a scam that uses "the ends justify the means" as the temptation, and that's why people are into it.

[deleted]

Re: Effective altruism has a sexual harassment problem, women say

#248

Post by blep_ »

droopyEyelids wrote: post #214
camillomiller wrote: post #205

EA can be the scum of Earth and I wouldn’t be surprised that this kind of group could be as it sounds cultish and self-aggrandizing. But conflating their wrongdoings right away with the refusal of monogamy and the practice of polyamory is so annoying and conservative and plainly wrong. It also implies that these practices are one step removed from harassment, which is infuriating. It’s exactly like conflating homosex…

In a perfect world I agree with you, but at some point you have to ask yourself why non-monogamy keeps going out of style after periods of acceptance. Even with a religion justifying it, Mormons gave up polygamy! I think it's because polygamous relationships lend themselves to manipulative and abusive behavior more easily than monogamous relationships do. Over time that increase in probability of negative outcomes tu…

Perhaps. I'm skeptical, but I have neither data nor anecdata to support that skepticism, so I won't actually dispute it.

But the problem there is still the manipulative and abusive behavior, not the polygamy. It's absurd to argue against healthy polygamous relationships just because there are unhealthy ones.

Re: Effective altruism has a sexual harassment problem, women say

#249

Post by [deleted] »

wendyshu wrote: post #6
willcipriano wrote: post #5

Back in my day effective altruism was mainly about finding charities that aren't essentially scams (way harder than it looks). Scene has apparently moved on to other things since I followed it a decade or so ago.

I guess GiveWell still does that, but I'm not really sure what everyone else in the movement does.

[deleted]

Re: Effective altruism has a sexual harassment problem, women say

#250

Post by sacnoradhq »

If someone (or a group of someones) needs a brand to conduct philanthropy, then they're a. lazy, b. not the sharpest rusty nail foot detector, and/or c. trying to get publicity and approbation for appearing to do good.

Philanthropy done right is anonymous, organic, and helps with basic needs as efficiently as possible.

Unfortunately, it sounds like a cult meets a swindle to me.

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