I think the ChatGPT response is good...there's a bit of a jump in context happening here. I think what might help to make this section of the Chapter easier to digest for newbies might be an introductory paragraph that goes something like: "Effective Altruism requires us to think clearly about the world. Behavioural Science has shown that human beings are affected by cognitive biases that many are not even aware of. Becoming aware of these helps us to improve our thinking and decision-making. Here's a post about 5 of these biases and how to spot them: not only in ourselves, but also in others." Something like that.
And yes: I'm joining an intro program from 4 November (2026)! Very excited. :)
I'm truly confused by this section of the Chapter...Did I miss some pre-reading that I should have done? Why are we talking about communication in abstracts? What are LessWrongians? How does this relate to Effective Altruism? I understand the last few sections of the Chapter and how they fit into Effective Altruism. They're building up an argument about why people don't give to the most effective causes: an inability to care for things at magnitudes of scale and scale insensitivity. I also almost understand the context of the previous section - the TED Talk by Julia Galef. She's saying we need a "Scout Mindset" which is all about curiosity and openness. But this section feels a little out of the blue? Is it meant to make us aware of common cognitive biases...? I suppose so. But then: why list cognitive biases and then jump into why abstract communication often fails? (In a nutshell: I feel like I missed something somewhere! Would appreciate any guidance here!)
Hi Lorenzo - thanks for that!
I think the ChatGPT response is good...there's a bit of a jump in context happening here. I think what might help to make this section of the Chapter easier to digest for newbies might be an introductory paragraph that goes something like: "Effective Altruism requires us to think clearly about the world. Behavioural Science has shown that human beings are affected by cognitive biases that many are not even aware of. Becoming aware of these helps us to improve our thinking and decision-making. Here's a post about 5 of these biases and how to spot them: not only in ourselves, but also in others." Something like that.
And yes: I'm joining an intro program from 4 November (2026)! Very excited. :)
I'm truly confused by this section of the Chapter...Did I miss some pre-reading that I should have done? Why are we talking about communication in abstracts? What are LessWrongians? How does this relate to Effective Altruism? I understand the last few sections of the Chapter and how they fit into Effective Altruism. They're building up an argument about why people don't give to the most effective causes: an inability to care for things at magnitudes of scale and scale insensitivity. I also almost understand the context of the previous section - the TED Talk by Julia Galef. She's saying we need a "Scout Mindset" which is all about curiosity and openness. But this section feels a little out of the blue? Is it meant to make us aware of common cognitive biases...? I suppose so. But then: why list cognitive biases and then jump into why abstract communication often fails? (In a nutshell: I feel like I missed something somewhere! Would appreciate any guidance here!)