Should Effective Altruists be Valuists instead of utilitarians? – part 3 in the Valuism sequence

By Spencer Greenberg and Amber Dawn Ace  Image created using the A.I. DALL•E 2 This is the third of five posts in my sequence of essays about my life philosophy, Valuism - here are the first, second, fourth, and fifth parts (though the links won’t work until those other essays are released). Sometimes, people take an important value - maybe their most important value - and decide to prioritize it above all other things. They neglect or ignore their other values in the process. In ...
More

Why I changed my mind about courage

Photo by Анна Рыжкова on Pexels
I used to not think much of courage as a virtue. After all, isn't it courageous to drive 50 mph over the speed limit despite being nervous about driving - or to rob a bank despite being next to a police station?Don't soldiers show courage fighting, even when fighting for the more evil side?It takes courage to become a boxer (because you're likely to have your face pummeled by a powerful person), but is that a good trait to encourage?What made me rethink courage was witnessing many cases where p...
More

Addressing some common misconceptions about rape and sexual assault

Photo by Frederico Almeida on Unsplash
I sometimes meet people who think rape and sexual assault are very rare. Or who believe that if someone is assaulted and doesn't report it, then that casts doubt on their story or means they're (somehow) blameworthy. I also have heard people claim that if a victim stays in touch with (or is friendly to) the perpetrator afterward, it means the event must have been consensual (or else fabricated). I think these perspectives are based on misconceptions. To help clear them up, I'd like to share ...
More

Reasons to Forgive

Written: March 27, 2019 | Released: August 30, 2021 In my experience, many obvious-seeming psychological concepts explode in complexity when you attempt to dissect them. For instance, trying to respond to a question about "why we forgive" made me realize there are a vast number of motivations for forgiveness. After someone wrongs you, you can forgive them based on:UNDERSTANDING • Empathy - you realize that you would have done the same thing that they did if you had the same choice to m...
More