TLDR: Take the population ethics quiz here: https://mdickens.me/pop-ethics/
Population ethics is an oft-overlooked subfield within ethics. Many people hold views that they don't realize contradict each other, or that have strange implications that they wouldn't endorse if they thought about it more.
Not just that—population ethics is a BIG DEAL. A lot of ethical decisions hinge on how you think about changes in future populations....
A preliminary estimate, and a request for better ones.
Summary
I believe the standard literature estimates for the number of DALYs attributable to a case of stunting are too low, largely because they don’t account for the long term effects. This means that childhood nutritional interventions that reduce the prevalence of stunting may be substantially more cost-effective than previously believed.
Epistemic status
Exploratory and back-o...
I’ve been feeling pretty shaken since the METR report about the Hugging Face incident came out last week. Over the weekend, I wrote up some thoughts on how lonely the AI situation sometimes feels to me. It’s more personal than what I’d usually share publicly, but I thought I’d post it here in case it resonates with anyone else.
I’m very grateful to the man...
Models or goals that require continuous growth tend to be unsustainable. Looking at nature, most living organisms have a finite mature form.
Systems like GDP are great in a stage of economic growth, but once a mature economy has developed GDP no longer indicates economic improvement.
Similarly, population growth is useful for expansion, but in my opinion not necessarily a valuable goal in the world right now. Although some might be wary of the consequences of population stagnancy or decline, there are actions that can be taken if those in leadership foresee and accept these situations. Some of the most prominent modern population realities and consequences are described in detail by polling expert Dr. Darrel Bricker in The Inquiring Mind Podcast ep. 40.
Interesting. I'm not generally around people who believe population growth is important. I thought that was more a thing that unstable politicians cared about. I think it's more about voting in representative leadership than trying to cater to leaders that aren't interested in being rational.