The Balance of Altruism and Realism

Can you do good and do it wrong? Michael and Caleb examine effective altruism - the movement that treats helping others like an optimization problem.

They explore how EA demands you maximize impact rather than feel good about helping. The conversation reveals why Superman should probably quit fighting crime and start generating renewable energy instead.

(03:10) Peter Singer's drowning child argument

(09:00) Internal consistency as moral demand

(16:10) Science-based approach to doing good

(19:30) 80,000 hours and high-impact careers

(23:40) Why boring work might be more heroic

(28:00) Truth-seeking versus feeling good

(34:20) The superhero efficiency problem

(34:50) Shared cosmopolitan values

(37:40) Different approaches to transformation

(43:40) Extreme versus rooted cosmopolitanism

(49:40) Status quo bias and tradition

(56:50) The beneficence challenge to Stoics

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Thanks to Michael Levy for graciously letting us use his music in the conversations:

https://ancientlyre.com/