John L. Taylor @johnnylogic@qoto.org

In addition to the usual problems with utilitarianism, I am particularly concerned by its epistemic naïveity (esp. in longtermism), use as corporate whitewash, and emptiness in addressing meaningful structural change. [Amia Srinivasan's review](https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v37/n18/amia-srinivasan/stop-the-robot-apocalypse) of _Doing Good Better_ captures this well:

"[E]ffective altruism, so far at least, has been a conservative movement, calling us back to where we already are: the world as it is, our institutions as they are. MacAskill does not address the deep sources of global misery – international trade and finance, debt, nationalism, imperialism, racial and gender-based subordination, war, environmental degradation, corruption, exploitation of labour – or the forces that ensure its reproduction. Effective altruism doesn’t try to understand how power works, except to better align itself with it. In this sense it leaves everything just as it is. This is no doubt comforting to those who enjoy the status quo – and may in part account for the movement’s success."

The entire review is well worth a read if you are interested in EA and ethics.

#effectivealtruism, #longtermism, #ethics, #ftx, #power

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

Taken from SELECTED POEMS by Rumi, Translated by Coleman Barks (Penguin Classics, 2004).

#versethursday, #poetry, #rumi, #mindfulness

I'm taking a break from the Twitter fiasco to appreciate this video of [a baby chimpanzee being reunited with his mother after needing medical aid](https://www.ksn.com/news/local/its-a-boy-sedgwick-county-zoo-welcomes-new-baby-chimpanzee/). Aagh, my heart!

#love, #mother, #animals, #baby

@rgs From **The Second Coming** by William Butler Yeats-- an old favorite! It is metal AF.

[This](https://twitterisgoinggreat.com/) will likely save you time if you can't help but follow the Twitter dumpster fire.

#twitter, #dumpsterfire, #musk, #schadenfreude

"Just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang, there are already lots of galaxies," says Tommaso Treu, an astronomer at the University of California at Los Angeles. "JWST has opened up a new frontier, bringing us closer to understanding how it all began."

https://www.npr.org/2022/11/17/1137406917/earliest-galaxy-james-webb-telescope-images

#JWST, #galaxies, #space, #astronomy

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people are so full of doubt." – Bertrand Russell, paraphrased from The Triumph of Stupidity”, Mortals and Others: Bertrand Russell's American Essays, 1931-1935

https://twitter.com/MNateShyamalan/status/1592287177542696963

#quote, #quotes, #stupidity, #doubt, #impostorsyndrome

[This](https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23462333/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-cryptocurrency-effective-altruism-crypto-bahamas-philanthropy) interview with Sam Bankman-Fried has me gobsmacked. He says all the stuff out loud that he shouldn't. I almost feel bad for his lawyers. Almost.

#FTX, #dumpsterfire

[Bumblebees play](https://www.tiktok.com/@science_is_real/video/7159926229351599406?_t=8XOXzG7xbgM&_r=1)! I shouldn't be too surprised since other insects show the capacity for emotion. Fruit flies apparently get down when being rejected by potential mates and [drink four times more alcohol](https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.1215932) than successful ones.

#animals, #emotion, #biology, #play

"Hatred and fear are a mirror; love is a window." - [Guillermo del Toro](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGoJaZ-zksI)

#quote, #unexpected, #wisdom

How it is going: https://twitter.com/Cartoonbrains/status/1592233920036315138

#twitter, #badideas

How it started: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1592177471654604800

#twitter, #badideas

I recently stumbled into an interesting paper summarizing learning strategies:
> [Teaching the science of learning](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5780548/pdf/41235_2017_Article_87.pdf) The science of learning has made a considerable contribution to our understanding of effective teaching and learning strategies. However, few instructors outside of the field are privy to this research. In this tutorial review, we focus on six specific cognitive strategies that have received robust support from decades of research: spaced practice, interleaving, retrieval practice, elaboration, concrete examples, and dual coding. We describe the basic research behind each strategy and relevant applied research, present examples of existing and suggested implementation, and make recommendations for further research that would broaden the reach of these strategies.

#cognition, #learning, #teaching