The Nonlinear Library EA - Excerpts From The EA Talmud by Scott Alexander
Apr 1, 2024
09:23
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: Excerpts From The EA Talmud, published by Scott Alexander on April 1, 2024 on The Effective Altruism Forum.
(aka "surely we have enough Jews here that at least one person finds this funny")
MISHNA: Rabbi Ord says that the three permissible cause areas are global health and development, animal welfare, and long-termism. Why are these the three permissible cause areas? Because any charity outside of these cause areas is a violation of bal tashchit, the prohibition against wasting resources.
GEMARA: And why not four cause areas, because global health and development are two separate categories? Rabbi bar bar Hana answers: Is not global health valuable only because it later leads to development? Therefore, consider them the same category.
Rav Yehuda objects. He tells the story of a student who asked Rabbi Yohanan why there should not be a fourth category, meta-effective-altruism. Rabbi Yohanan answered: this is covered under long-termism, because it pays off in the long-term when the meta-charity provides more resources to effective altruism.
But if meta-effective altruism is long-termist because it pays off in more resources later, shouldn't global health also be classified as long-termist, because it pays off in development later?
Rav Hisda asks, how can you think to compare these two? In meta-effective-altruism, the resources have not yet been used to help the poor. But in global health, the resources are already spent on the poor. From this, learn that the category of charity is determined when the resources are spent on helping the poor. The Gemara concludes: indeed, learn from this.
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai says: it is permissible to count your contributions towards animal welfare as also being contributions to long-termism. For Isaiah 10-11 says "On that day ... the wolf shall lie down with the lamb". What is meant by "on that day"? It means "in the long-term future".
If it is permissible to count your contributions towards animal welfare as also being contributions to long-termism, then in what sense are they two different cause areas? Rav answers: Rabbi Shimon was only referring to contributions towards speculative wild animal suffering causes like genetically engineering predators into herbivores.
Using the method of juxtaposition, we see that the next verse is "The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox". One who has pledged to donate a certain amount to animal welfare and long-termism may count these types of causes as either category of donation. Donations to normal animal welfare causes may not be counted as long-termism.
How long must it be before a charitable intervention pays off in order to count it as for "the long-term future"? Rabbi Hisda says in the name of Rav in the name of Rabbi Akiva: seventy years. The Bible says (Jeremiah 29:11) "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." And this passage is talking about the end of the Babylonian exile after seventy years.
Therefore, the long-term future is seventy years from now.
MISHNA: Rabbi Eliezer said: one may work on AI safety but not on AI capabilities. What is AI capabilities? It is anything that makes an AI better at any of the the 39 categories of labor involved in constructing the Tabernacle.
GEMARA: The Exiliarch raised a question to Rav Hamnuna: Clearly language models are forbidden due to the prohibition against writing. But why is it capabilities research to work on an image model? Rav Hamnuna answered: that is the prohibited labor of dyeing. And is it dyeing if the image is in black and white? Rav Sheshet said: rather, say that it is still the prohibited labor of writing, because the user must prompt the image model.
Rabbi Zeira objec...
(aka "surely we have enough Jews here that at least one person finds this funny")
MISHNA: Rabbi Ord says that the three permissible cause areas are global health and development, animal welfare, and long-termism. Why are these the three permissible cause areas? Because any charity outside of these cause areas is a violation of bal tashchit, the prohibition against wasting resources.
GEMARA: And why not four cause areas, because global health and development are two separate categories? Rabbi bar bar Hana answers: Is not global health valuable only because it later leads to development? Therefore, consider them the same category.
Rav Yehuda objects. He tells the story of a student who asked Rabbi Yohanan why there should not be a fourth category, meta-effective-altruism. Rabbi Yohanan answered: this is covered under long-termism, because it pays off in the long-term when the meta-charity provides more resources to effective altruism.
But if meta-effective altruism is long-termist because it pays off in more resources later, shouldn't global health also be classified as long-termist, because it pays off in development later?
Rav Hisda asks, how can you think to compare these two? In meta-effective-altruism, the resources have not yet been used to help the poor. But in global health, the resources are already spent on the poor. From this, learn that the category of charity is determined when the resources are spent on helping the poor. The Gemara concludes: indeed, learn from this.
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai says: it is permissible to count your contributions towards animal welfare as also being contributions to long-termism. For Isaiah 10-11 says "On that day ... the wolf shall lie down with the lamb". What is meant by "on that day"? It means "in the long-term future".
If it is permissible to count your contributions towards animal welfare as also being contributions to long-termism, then in what sense are they two different cause areas? Rav answers: Rabbi Shimon was only referring to contributions towards speculative wild animal suffering causes like genetically engineering predators into herbivores.
Using the method of juxtaposition, we see that the next verse is "The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox". One who has pledged to donate a certain amount to animal welfare and long-termism may count these types of causes as either category of donation. Donations to normal animal welfare causes may not be counted as long-termism.
How long must it be before a charitable intervention pays off in order to count it as for "the long-term future"? Rabbi Hisda says in the name of Rav in the name of Rabbi Akiva: seventy years. The Bible says (Jeremiah 29:11) "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." And this passage is talking about the end of the Babylonian exile after seventy years.
Therefore, the long-term future is seventy years from now.
MISHNA: Rabbi Eliezer said: one may work on AI safety but not on AI capabilities. What is AI capabilities? It is anything that makes an AI better at any of the the 39 categories of labor involved in constructing the Tabernacle.
GEMARA: The Exiliarch raised a question to Rav Hamnuna: Clearly language models are forbidden due to the prohibition against writing. But why is it capabilities research to work on an image model? Rav Hamnuna answered: that is the prohibited labor of dyeing. And is it dyeing if the image is in black and white? Rav Sheshet said: rather, say that it is still the prohibited labor of writing, because the user must prompt the image model.
Rabbi Zeira objec...