Scott Alexander lays out his full theory of morality and charity amid drowning child debate
john__allard · x · 2026-09-14
Scott Alexander (slatestarcodex) answers questions raised by his "drowning child" tweet with a full write-up of his theory of morality and charity: helping others—including strangers, foreigners, and conscious animals—is virtuous, but no one has a universal obligation to do so. He reserves "obligation" for explicit or implicit promises, like repaying debt or raising your kids.
In the thread, John Allard quotes Alexander's joke that if reading the classics doesn't give you compassion, try MDMA—and if that fails, go work at A16Z. The post is the AI community's widely shared philosophical long-read addressing critiques like whether infinite moral obligation exists.
More from AGI Musings
- VC krishnan wants AI to become the top midterm issue to wake society up to job disruption — krishnan · 2026-09-14
- Bryan Johnson: I don't trust anyone's AI risk assessment, so I'm betting on optimism — QuanquanGu · 2026-09-14
- What should AI labs do if AGI risk were real? A challenge to skeptics — AndyMasley · 2026-09-14
- What Is Science For? When AI Answers Math Problems, Minds Stop Changing — EdwardSun0909 · 2026-09-14
- Tech billionaires building doomsday bunkers: worrying signal or just prudent spending? — AIandDesign · 2026-09-14
- Karpathy: RL is terrible, but we're building ghosts, not animals — RileyRalmuto · 2026-09-14