Affective Old Truant
@effectivealtruist.bsky.social
I'm an effective altruist mainly reading and boosting posts, but occasionally I'll muse and doodle about effective altruism. I take a balanced approach, so will highlight under-represented views—my opinions will no doubt become apparent :)
Reposted by Affective Old Truant
Dustin Moskovitz is worth 10.8 billion, never has to work again, can afford nearly anything he can desire, and can shape political outcomes by moving some money around. Boo hoo. To make 10.8 billion in a lifetime you'd need to make about $108,000 an hour. That's an abomination.
November 10, 2025 at 5:54 AM
Dustin Moskovitz is worth 10.8 billion, never has to work again, can afford nearly anything he can desire, and can shape political outcomes by moving some money around. Boo hoo. To make 10.8 billion in a lifetime you'd need to make about $108,000 an hour. That's an abomination.
Reposted by Affective Old Truant
55% of CEOs reported mental health struggles last year—higher than their employees.
Dustin Moskovitz called being CEO "exhausting" and stepped back.
Tennis stars ended their seasons at "breaking point."
The mask still fits. It just costs more than it pays.
Dustin Moskovitz called being CEO "exhausting" and stepped back.
Tennis stars ended their seasons at "breaking point."
The mask still fits. It just costs more than it pays.
November 9, 2025 at 11:07 AM
55% of CEOs reported mental health struggles last year—higher than their employees.
Dustin Moskovitz called being CEO "exhausting" and stepped back.
Tennis stars ended their seasons at "breaking point."
The mask still fits. It just costs more than it pays.
Dustin Moskovitz called being CEO "exhausting" and stepped back.
Tennis stars ended their seasons at "breaking point."
The mask still fits. It just costs more than it pays.
Reposted by Affective Old Truant
Not a Catholic, but this Pope strikes me as a person with a moral center, not that there is a lot of competition, these days.
His statements and philosophy make sense, (see above) and I respect his positions.
Refreshing. Uplifting, even.
His statements and philosophy make sense, (see above) and I respect his positions.
Refreshing. Uplifting, even.
November 5, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Not a Catholic, but this Pope strikes me as a person with a moral center, not that there is a lot of competition, these days.
His statements and philosophy make sense, (see above) and I respect his positions.
Refreshing. Uplifting, even.
His statements and philosophy make sense, (see above) and I respect his positions.
Refreshing. Uplifting, even.
Reposted by Affective Old Truant
The episode is hosted by Jacob Goldstein and features several other excellent guests, including Elie Hassenfeld (GiveWell), Nate Silver and Maria Konnikova ("Risky Business" podcast co-hosts).
Listen here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/g...
Listen here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/g...
Get Happier, Help Others: Some Good Ideas About Giving
Podcast Episode · What's Your Problem? · 12/02/2024 · 51m
podcasts.apple.com
December 10, 2024 at 8:48 PM
The episode is hosted by Jacob Goldstein and features several other excellent guests, including Elie Hassenfeld (GiveWell), Nate Silver and Maria Konnikova ("Risky Business" podcast co-hosts).
Listen here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/g...
Listen here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/g...
Reposted by Affective Old Truant
(same guy wrote a review of Michael Schur's book of moral philosophy, which is troubling exactly in the way you might expect it to be. cliffs notes: Schur can't see outside a lens of consumption and wants to find a set of rules that make him feel like a good person, rather than do good.)
A Few Scattered Thoughts On Perfection: Babalugats on HOW TO BE PERFECT | The-Solute
www.the-solute.com
November 5, 2025 at 8:35 PM
(same guy wrote a review of Michael Schur's book of moral philosophy, which is troubling exactly in the way you might expect it to be. cliffs notes: Schur can't see outside a lens of consumption and wants to find a set of rules that make him feel like a good person, rather than do good.)
Reposted by Affective Old Truant
Oh the Repub party does have donors
“The billionaires who donated more than Griffin for the 2024 US election were Mellon banking heir Timothy Mellon ($197M), Duck and E Uihlein of the shipping supplies company Uline Inc. ($133.8M), Elon Musk ($132.7M),& Vegas Sands owner Miriam Adelson ($132.4 M).”
“The billionaires who donated more than Griffin for the 2024 US election were Mellon banking heir Timothy Mellon ($197M), Duck and E Uihlein of the shipping supplies company Uline Inc. ($133.8M), Elon Musk ($132.7M),& Vegas Sands owner Miriam Adelson ($132.4 M).”
July 3, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Oh the Repub party does have donors
“The billionaires who donated more than Griffin for the 2024 US election were Mellon banking heir Timothy Mellon ($197M), Duck and E Uihlein of the shipping supplies company Uline Inc. ($133.8M), Elon Musk ($132.7M),& Vegas Sands owner Miriam Adelson ($132.4 M).”
“The billionaires who donated more than Griffin for the 2024 US election were Mellon banking heir Timothy Mellon ($197M), Duck and E Uihlein of the shipping supplies company Uline Inc. ($133.8M), Elon Musk ($132.7M),& Vegas Sands owner Miriam Adelson ($132.4 M).”
Reposted by Affective Old Truant
Not sure where your confusion is but hopefully this helps. Wikipedia is usually a good place to start with general research. But I highly recommend doing a deep dive bc it just gets weirder the further you read
![A wiki article about the rationalist movement
The rationalist community is a 21st-century movement that formed around a group of internet blogs, primarily LessWrong and Astral Codex Ten (formerly known as Slate Star Codex). The movement initially gained prominence in the San Francisco Bay Area. Its members seek to use rationality to avoid cognitive biases. Common interests include probability, effective altruism, transhumanism, and mitigating existential risk from artificial general intelligence.
The borders of the rationalist community are blurry and subject to debate among the community and adjacent groups.[1] Members who diverge from typical rationalist beliefs often self-describe as "rationalist-adjacent", "post-rationalist" (also known as "ingroup" and "TPOT", an acronym for "this part of Twitter"[2]) or "EA-adjacent".[3]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ar563nzygiz2whstgyd2ifwm/bafkreiekrzxk572xrhsez2scwuiokss465deohokeiqqvdsx4td4dhw6yy@jpeg)
![An excerpt on the rationalist community from Wikipedia
Extreme values
Bloomberg Businessweek journalist Ellen Huet adds that the rationalist movement "valorizes extremes: seeking rational truth above all else, donating the most money and doing the utmost good for the most important reason. This way of thinking can lend an attractive clarity, but it can also provide cover for destructive or despicable behavior".[22]
Writing in The New Yorker, Gideon Lewis-Kraus argues that rationalists "have given safe harbor to some genuinely egregious ideas," such as scientific racism and neoreactionary views, and that "the rationalists' general willingness to pursue orderly exchanges on objectionable topics, often with monstrous people, remains not only a point of pride but a constitutive part of the subculture's self-understanding."[23] Though this attitude is based on "the view that vile ideas should be countenanced and refuted rather than left to accrue the status of forbidden knowledge",[23] rationalists also hold the view that other ideas, referred to as information hazards, are dangerous and should be suppressed.[24] Roko's basilisk and the writings of Ziz LaSota are commonly cited information hazards among rationalists.[20]
Some members and former members of the community have said that aspects of the community can be cult-like.[25][26] In The New York Times, religious scholar Greg Epstein stated: "When you think about the billions at stake and the radical transformation of lives across the world because of the eccentric vision of this group, how much more cult-y does it have to be for this to be a cult? Not much."[27]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ar563nzygiz2whstgyd2ifwm/bafkreifpx2eoqj4q3rspvwyc4wop4be22x35gd3dqb4cl5g7inbbjeloem@jpeg)
![History excerpt from wiki article on rationalists
LessWrong was originally founded in 2009,[31] although the community had previously existed on various blogs on the Internet, including Overcoming Bias (founded in 2006). Slate Star Codex was launched in 2013, and its successor blog Astral Codex Ten was launched on January 21, 2021.[32][33][34]
Eliezer Yudkowsky created LessWrong and is regarded as a major figure within the movement. He has also published the Harry Potter fanfiction called Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality from 2010 to 2015, which led people towards LessWrong and the rationalist community.[35][36] Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality was a highly popular fanfiction and is well-regarded within the rationalist community.[37][38] Yudkowsky has used the work to solicit donations for the Center for Applied Rationality, which teaches courses based on it,[39][40] and a 2013 LessWrong survey revealed a quarter of its users had found the site due to the fanfiction.[41]
In the 2010s, the rationalist community emerged as a major force in Silicon Valley.[42][43] Silicon Valley founders such as Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Vitalik Buterin, Dustin Moskovitz, and Jaan Tallinn have donated to rationalist-associated institutions or otherwise supported rationalist figures.[44][45][27] The movement has directed hundreds of millions of dollars towards companies, research labs, and think tanks aligned with its objectives, and was influential in the abortive removal of Sam Altman from OpenAI.[27]
Bay Area organizations associated with the rationalist community include the Center for Applied Rationality, which teaches the techniques of rationality espoused by rationalists, and the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, which conducts research on AI safety.[46][47][48]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ar563nzygiz2whstgyd2ifwm/bafkreigzcd36g2eo2jjtelk4w4lh5vyfhb3ya5ot6nfuonuikek4wm5x5u@jpeg)
November 3, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Not sure where your confusion is but hopefully this helps. Wikipedia is usually a good place to start with general research. But I highly recommend doing a deep dive bc it just gets weirder the further you read