Congratulations, happy birthday, and all the best for the future.
In my experience, if you believed something earnestly, thought about it carefully, and were happy to defend it publicly while still keeping an open mind privately, you don't come to be embarrassed by it, even if you later completely change your mind. I suspect you'll be fine.
One view that you will definitely disavow in the future is that 4 years is "a long time since high school" :P
You, Scott A, and Richard Chappel were the main motivations for me to take my theoretical agreement with EA ideas seriously and start an ongoing donation, so even though I disagree with a lot of your takes, I'm grateful to you for pushing me to really think about aligning my behavior with my values.
I'd guess that through similar mechanisms, all but your worst detractors would have to concede that you should be pretty proud of the effect your blogging has had on the world.
Congrats and get after it! One piece of advice: go to a program with people who will challenge you rather than affirm your views. You’ll be a much better philosopher for it, even though it’ll be more frustrating and uncomfortable.
When I was deciding between Chicago and Berkeley that’s why I opted for the latter and it was absolutely the right decision.
Congratulations. As a very old fart I will give you the same advice I gave my kids.
Make sure that you learn some skills that people / organizations are willing to pay you for at a rate that you find acceptable. The major isn't that important, but the skills and experience are.
I am a Physicist turned Ph.D. Engineer now doing computer security work. I am a pragmatic utilitarian and find philosophy to be somewhat interesting and also largely useless. Given the relative lack of progress in it over the past few millennia, I suspect that it is dealing with issues that are either badly formulated and/or all but insoluble. In either case, working in the area seems like a forlorn hope. Other areas are likely to be more responsive. For my amusement I learn more math and read astrophysics articles - also useless to me, but interesting.
Congratulations! Well deserved. Your thesis would be insane for a PhD. Also so would your research efforts towards EA. Either way you will make a positive difference in the world. Can’t wait to see what you do next!
Congratulations! It's been great reading your stuff these last few years, and I think the only thing you should be embarrassed about is linking Taylor Swift when you could have linked the Flaming Lips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf9Ln41FLrM
From reading 8000 hours, I would say that one of the core EA thesis is to maximize your own income first, so that you can maximize your positive impact on the world.
If you were trying to earn as much money as possible -in an ethical way-, which path would you choose?
"in love of God, cod, and arthropod" is iconic. Best wishes!!
1) I can't believe youre graduating college already. It seems like less than a year ago when you were early in undergrad. Time flies.
2) I'm glad to hear you've converted to objective list theory over hedonism
Congratulations, happy birthday, and all the best for the future.
In my experience, if you believed something earnestly, thought about it carefully, and were happy to defend it publicly while still keeping an open mind privately, you don't come to be embarrassed by it, even if you later completely change your mind. I suspect you'll be fine.
Congrats, Matthew! I hope to see you at Princeton next year (though I would also be happy to see you at an EA organization).
Congrats!
One view that you will definitely disavow in the future is that 4 years is "a long time since high school" :P
You, Scott A, and Richard Chappel were the main motivations for me to take my theoretical agreement with EA ideas seriously and start an ongoing donation, so even though I disagree with a lot of your takes, I'm grateful to you for pushing me to really think about aligning my behavior with my values.
I'd guess that through similar mechanisms, all but your worst detractors would have to concede that you should be pretty proud of the effect your blogging has had on the world.
> One view that you will definitely disavow in the future is that 4 years is "a long time since high school"
Indeed. As they say, the days are long but the years are short.
Congrats! 🎉
Honestly inspiring that you amassed 9K subscribers in two years. I hope the next year brings 10x more!
They grow up so fast...
Congrats and get after it! One piece of advice: go to a program with people who will challenge you rather than affirm your views. You’ll be a much better philosopher for it, even though it’ll be more frustrating and uncomfortable.
When I was deciding between Chicago and Berkeley that’s why I opted for the latter and it was absolutely the right decision.
Congratulations. As a very old fart I will give you the same advice I gave my kids.
Make sure that you learn some skills that people / organizations are willing to pay you for at a rate that you find acceptable. The major isn't that important, but the skills and experience are.
I am a Physicist turned Ph.D. Engineer now doing computer security work. I am a pragmatic utilitarian and find philosophy to be somewhat interesting and also largely useless. Given the relative lack of progress in it over the past few millennia, I suspect that it is dealing with issues that are either badly formulated and/or all but insoluble. In either case, working in the area seems like a forlorn hope. Other areas are likely to be more responsive. For my amusement I learn more math and read astrophysics articles - also useless to me, but interesting.
Congratulations and happy birthday! Come to Oxford and do an MPhil!
Might be in Oxford for an ea job
🙌 keep us posted!
Congrats! I really hope we meet someday.
Congratulations! Well deserved. Your thesis would be insane for a PhD. Also so would your research efforts towards EA. Either way you will make a positive difference in the world. Can’t wait to see what you do next!
Congratulations! It's been great reading your stuff these last few years, and I think the only thing you should be embarrassed about is linking Taylor Swift when you could have linked the Flaming Lips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf9Ln41FLrM
Congratulations!
From reading 8000 hours, I would say that one of the core EA thesis is to maximize your own income first, so that you can maximize your positive impact on the world.
If you were trying to earn as much money as possible -in an ethical way-, which path would you choose?
Maybe law school or some EA job. But I think most of my expected impact comes from public intellectual stuff.
Congratulations!
happy birthday! you inspire me.
much love
Thank you!