Soldier Altruists vs. Scout Altruists

April 23, 2021

There is an important division between people who want to improve the world that few seem to be aware of. Inspired by Julia Galef's new book (The Scout Mindset), I'll call this division: Soldier Altruists vs. Scout Altruists. 1. Soldier Altruists think it's obvious how to improve the world and that we just need to execute those obvious steps. They see the barriers to a better world as: (i) not enough people taking action (e.g., due to ignorance, selfishness, or propaganda), and ...

Maybe you can justifiably believe you can change the world with the right conditions

May 5, 2018

Written: May 5, 2018 | Released: June 25, 2021 Can you justifiably believe that you may be able to really change the world? There's a certain seeming absurdity in believing you can change the world. And by "change the world," I don't mean playing a small (though still meaningful) cumulative role in bringing about change as part of a group of many thousands of people, each contributing incrementally. I mean, causing a large and important positive change to occur (and not merely by dumb lu...