“The Soul of EA is in Trouble” by Mjreard

This is a Forum Team crosspost from Substack.

Whither cause prioritization and connection with the good?

There's a trend towards people who once identified as Effective Altruists now identifying solely as “people working on AI safety.”[1] For those in the loop, it feels like less of a trend and more of a tidal wave. There's an increasing sense that among the most prominent (formerly?) EA orgs and individuals, making AGI go well is functionally all that matters. For that end, so the trend goes, the ideas of Effective Altruism have exhausted their usefulness. They pointed us to the right problem – thanks; we’ll take it from here. And taking it from here means building organizations, talent bases, and political alliances at a scale incommensurate with attachment to a niche ideology or moralizing language generally. I think this a dangerous path to go down too hard and my impression [...]

---

Outline:

(02:39) What I see

(06:35) The threat means pose to ends

(11:12) Losing something more

The original text contained 2 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

---

First published:
May 8th, 2025

Source:
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/CKKAga4HfQyAranaC/the-soul-of-ea-is-in-trouble

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.