MacAskill responds to Economist cover: EA's openness to strangeness is its strength
AaronBergman18 · x · 2026-10-05
Responding to The Economist's cover calling effective altruism "the century's biggest idea", EA co-founder William MacAskill called the claim overstated but praised the balanced history and good-faith criticism. He traces EA's origins to Oxford in November 2009, when 23 people pledged 10% of their income to help the extreme poor, and argues EA's openness to strangeness is a core strength. Quoter Mjreard notes any fair EA description sounds too much like an advertisement, so oversimplification buys counterweight.
Related event: EA Co-founder Responds to The Economist: Weirdness Is Its Strength(4 posts)→
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