The Nonlinear Library EA - Introducing Dialogues + Donation Debate Week by tobytrem
Nov 22, 2023
05:59
Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Introducing Dialogues + Donation Debate Week, published by tobytrem on November 22, 2023 on The Effective Altruism Forum.
TL;DR: Donation Debate Week (21-28 November) has started! Just in time for it, we've added the Dialogue feature built by LessWrong[1], which allows you to create and publish a conversation with another user.
Consider using this thread to set up dialogues with people who disagree with your donation views!
Donation Debate Week: discuss donation choice and how we should vote in the Donation Election
Donation Debate Week is a chance to stress-test your own thinking about donations, help others make better donation decisions, and move the needle in the
Donation Election.
Do the
pre-votes in the Donation Election seem off to you? Do you think people who read the EA Forum could improve
their donation choices in specific ways?
Write about it for Donation Debate Week!
(If pre-votes seem off, that's probably tracking a disagreement you have with many people about which donation opportunities are most cost-effective. See also
some outdated information about where people in EA tend to donate.)
Your own donations might also do more good if you redirected them.
Read what people write for Donation Debate Week and consider sharing your donation plans to get feedback.
Some specific ways to participate in Donation Debate Week
(Not an exhaustive list!)
Comment on this post to find a dialogue partner for a debate about donation choice (or how people should vote). This could help you test the arguments that drive your personal donation choices and to clarify your uncertainties. (Example dialogues are
here.)
Here are some example comments you could use to set up a Donation Debate Week dialogue:
"I think GiveWell's Top Charities Fund is my best bet for a global health donation. Change my mind!"
"I can't decide whether AI safety should be my top longtermist cause. Help me clarify my cruxes?"
"I'm skeptical of wild animal welfare work. Anyone want to debate with me? (Note: I might not end up having enough time.)"
"Is AI safety no longer neglected? I don't want to donate because of this feeling. Up for having a dialogue with someone who disagrees."
Write posts aimed at shifting how people think about donation choice (or where they're voting).
(like
this post arguing that the majority of OpenPhil's neartermist funding should go to animal welfare).
Share
estimates of the
cost-effectiveness of some donation opportunities you've explored.
Read
what others are writing.
Or, as always, ask a question, write a quick take, comment on other people's posts, and upvote posts and comments you appreciate.
Voting for the Donation Election begins on December 1st, but it doesn't close until December 15th, so don't worry too much if your posts aren't ready for this week.
How dialogues work
We've just added this feature, so it might be buggy (contact us or comment here if you find bugs!) and we will probably be changing it a bit in the future. There's also a chance that we'll remove it entirely at some point if it isn't getting much use.
Finding a partner for a dialogue
The first step to creating a dialogue is to find someone (or a small group of people) to have a dialogue with. Here are some suggestions for how you could find dialogue partners:
Asking someone you know, or private-messaging
Commenting on a post you're interested in discussing with someone.
Commenting here if you'd like to talk about donation choice
Posting a quick take (inviting people to change your mind, discuss your uncertainties, or anything else)
Setting up the dialogue
To create the dialogue, hover your mouse over your profile in the top right corner.
After you click on "New dialogue" you will get the following pop-up:
Title your dialogue. You can change this later. Add the participant(s). (You can add more participant...
TL;DR: Donation Debate Week (21-28 November) has started! Just in time for it, we've added the Dialogue feature built by LessWrong[1], which allows you to create and publish a conversation with another user.
Consider using this thread to set up dialogues with people who disagree with your donation views!
Donation Debate Week: discuss donation choice and how we should vote in the Donation Election
Donation Debate Week is a chance to stress-test your own thinking about donations, help others make better donation decisions, and move the needle in the
Donation Election.
Do the
pre-votes in the Donation Election seem off to you? Do you think people who read the EA Forum could improve
their donation choices in specific ways?
Write about it for Donation Debate Week!
(If pre-votes seem off, that's probably tracking a disagreement you have with many people about which donation opportunities are most cost-effective. See also
some outdated information about where people in EA tend to donate.)
Your own donations might also do more good if you redirected them.
Read what people write for Donation Debate Week and consider sharing your donation plans to get feedback.
Some specific ways to participate in Donation Debate Week
(Not an exhaustive list!)
Comment on this post to find a dialogue partner for a debate about donation choice (or how people should vote). This could help you test the arguments that drive your personal donation choices and to clarify your uncertainties. (Example dialogues are
here.)
Here are some example comments you could use to set up a Donation Debate Week dialogue:
"I think GiveWell's Top Charities Fund is my best bet for a global health donation. Change my mind!"
"I can't decide whether AI safety should be my top longtermist cause. Help me clarify my cruxes?"
"I'm skeptical of wild animal welfare work. Anyone want to debate with me? (Note: I might not end up having enough time.)"
"Is AI safety no longer neglected? I don't want to donate because of this feeling. Up for having a dialogue with someone who disagrees."
Write posts aimed at shifting how people think about donation choice (or where they're voting).
(like
this post arguing that the majority of OpenPhil's neartermist funding should go to animal welfare).
Share
estimates of the
cost-effectiveness of some donation opportunities you've explored.
Read
what others are writing.
Or, as always, ask a question, write a quick take, comment on other people's posts, and upvote posts and comments you appreciate.
Voting for the Donation Election begins on December 1st, but it doesn't close until December 15th, so don't worry too much if your posts aren't ready for this week.
How dialogues work
We've just added this feature, so it might be buggy (contact us or comment here if you find bugs!) and we will probably be changing it a bit in the future. There's also a chance that we'll remove it entirely at some point if it isn't getting much use.
Finding a partner for a dialogue
The first step to creating a dialogue is to find someone (or a small group of people) to have a dialogue with. Here are some suggestions for how you could find dialogue partners:
Asking someone you know, or private-messaging
Commenting on a post you're interested in discussing with someone.
Commenting here if you'd like to talk about donation choice
Posting a quick take (inviting people to change your mind, discuss your uncertainties, or anything else)
Setting up the dialogue
To create the dialogue, hover your mouse over your profile in the top right corner.
After you click on "New dialogue" you will get the following pop-up:
Title your dialogue. You can change this later. Add the participant(s). (You can add more participant...