banteg boosts viral greentext tracing EA logic from mosquito nets to caring about 500 million years
banteg · x · 2026-09-18
Developer banteg retweeted a viral greentext-style piece tracing the intellectual slide of Effective Altruism: start with spreadsheet-optimized charity (buying mosquito nets), accept that future people matter, follow the logic from grandchildren to people 500 million years out, and the expected value of humanity's far future dwarfs all present-day charity. Original author Alexandra Barr adds a note: most people aren't familiar with these ideas and are scared and confused by the median EA view, so treat their mistrust with empathy — everyone's just trying to be a good person. A sharp, widely shared summary of the longtermism debate in AI-adjacent circles.
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