Value Drift & How to Not Be Evil Part II

This episode features:


-What proportion of effective altruists decrease their
involvement over time?


-Why do people decrease their involvement with effective
altruism?


-Why effective altruist values are particularly vulnerable to
drift


-Should you expect your values to get better or worse over time?


-Should you try to prevent value drift?


-How you can use nudges and commitment devices to prevent value
drift


-How the “foot-in-the-door” phenomenon might push you towards
doing good now, even if your impact is small


-Should you choose effective altruist projects based on selfish
considerations?


 


Full transcript


 


-References-


Apply Psychology:


Cross, K. P. (1977). Not can, but will college teaching be
improved?. New Directions for Higher Education, 1977(17), 1-15.


Freedman, J. L., & Fraser, S. C. (1966). Compliance without
pressure: the foot-in-the-door technique. Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, 4(2), 195.


Quoidbach, J., Gilbert, D. T., & Wilson, T. D. (2013). The
end of history illusion. Science, 339(6115), 96-98.


Thaler, R. H., & Sunstein, C. R. (2009). Nudge: Improving
decisions about health, wealth, and happiness. Penguin.


Van Gestel, L. C., Kroese, F. M., & De Ridder, D. T. D.
(2018). Nudging at the checkout counter–A longitudinal study of
the effect of a food repositioning nudge on healthy food choice.
Psychology & Health, 33(6), 800-809.


EA Survey 2018 Series: Community Demographics &
Characteristics 


Empirical data on value drift


Concrete Ways to Reduce Risks of Value Drift 


Check This Rec: 


Wrangham, R. (2019). The Goodness Paradox: The Strange
Relationship Between Virtue and Violence in Human Evolution.
Pantheon.