Harvard Effective Altruism

Up on the HEA blog: posts from Eric Li, Nwanneka Okolo, and Rachel Sadoff involving utilitarianism, bias toward immediate and measurable results, and cause prioritization involving AI. Have a look!

http://www.harvardea.org/blog/2020/5/23/eric-hansen-equitable-utilitarianism
http://www.harvardea.org/blog/2020/5/23/nwanneka-okolo-immediate-results
http://www.harvardea.org/blog/2020/5/23/rachel-sadoff-artificial-intelligence-as-an-effective-altruism-cause-area

New on the HEA blog is a set of 6 insightful posts from HEA members Marka Ellertson, Andre Ferreira, Eric Hanson, Max Ingersoll, Jarod Stone, and Alison Xin. Check them out!

http://www.harvardea.org/blog/2020/1/28/marka-ellertson-dealing-with-moral-uncertainty-in-altruism

http://www.harvardea.org/blog/2020/1/28/andre-ferreira-climate-change-amp-the-inaction-of-the-effective-altruism-movement

http://www.harvardea.org/blog/2020/1/28/eric-hansen-growing-effective-altruism

http://www.harvardea.org/blog/2020/1/28/max-ingersoll-doughnut-altruism

http://www.harvardea.org/blog/2020/1/28/jarod-stone-the-case-for-honey

http://www.harvardea.org/blog/2020/1/28/alison-xin-more-right-cooperation-between-intuition-and-rationality

Have a look a HEA member Stephen Casper's new post on Functional Decision Theory on the blog.

"Unfortunately...FDT is sometimes explained confusingly and misunderstood by its proponents and opponents alike. To help dissolve confusion about FDT and address key concerns of its opponents, I refute the criticism that FDT assumes that causation can happen backward in time and offer two key principles that provide a framework for clearly understanding it."

Stephen Casper: Dissolving Confusion around Functional Decision Theory — Effective Altruism at Harvard It's all about the source code.

☑️ Former Secretary of the Treasury
☑️ Discussion (and some debate) about the significance and limitations of EA

It was a good night.

Hear about our next speakers through our mailing list: http://www.harvardea.org/contact

Check out HEA member Stephen Casper's three part mini-series on decision theory.

Stephen Casper: Decision Theory — Effective Altruism at Harvard An exploration of questions and answers in the field of decision theory.

The Harvard Kennedy School Pareto Fellowship is a weekly reading group applying EA frameworks to help graduate students (at the Kennedy school and beyond) think critically about how to maximize their impact through their careers.

The fellowship will meet during the fall semester on Mondays 6:30-7:30pm (followed by dinner and social time), starting September 30. Learn more and apply with the link below. (Applications are due Wednesday, September 18.)

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__cutt.ly_xwTjr8M&d=DwMFaQ&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=MyO5dJ1nQU4C9z-erxj5JfqsKGMuQ47Snryv9VzyM-U&m=p3wXuX8ZHtQaYX7se0e1WSc6tOn8tsmxrRBun8tXZpU&s=nc_5r5moxlUk4HZZaP0XQGaCLYKfEA-I7c8vDNYNpwo&e=

About the HKS Pareto Fellowship The HKS Pareto Fellowship is a weekly career and reading group to help individuals think about how to maximize their ability to do good in the world. The fellowship will meet during the fall semester on Mondays 6:30-8:00pm, starting September 30th (dinner and social time will start at 7:30pm). Topic...

We're very excited to welcome Professor Larry Summers to a dinner discussion with Harvard College Effective Altruism! To keep the dinner intimate, we've opted to set up an application process. All Harvard affiliates are encouraged to sign up. The dinner will take place on Tuesday, September 17th at 6pm.

Apply here: https://forms.gle/Rwwbw9qAg7tZy7RT7

Harvard College EA couldn't be more excited to kick off this fall's Arete Fellowship this month. The fellowship is a prestigious opportunity for undergrads to learn more about how to do the most good possible. Each semester, fellows do weekly readings and discussions on the philosophy, psychology, science, politics, and economics at the forefront of making a difference in the world.

Learn more and apply at http://bit.ly/2QWOqUO. Applications due 11:59 pm, Tuesday, Sept. 17.

Info session at 2:30 pm in Fong Auditorium (Boylston Hall), Saturday, Sept. 14. See you there!