http://aeon.co/magazine/living-together/art-is-a-selfish-waste-of-time-says-effective-altruism/
Once we’d settled in at the cottage, Hilton and I stepped out for a walk through the bits of forest that hadn’t been razed for pasture, and he asked if my script would be one of the best scripts ever written. At the time I thought he was trolling me. I obviously couldn’t say ‘yes’, but ‘no’ would somehow feel like an admission of failure. It was only after talking to other EAs that I came to understand what he was getting at. As EAs see it, writing scripts and making movies demands resources that, in the right hands, could have saved lives. If the movie in question is clearly frivolous, this seems impossible to justify ethically. If, on the other hand, you’re making the best movie of all time… well, it could almost start to be worthwhile. But I told Hilton ‘no’, and felt a lingering sense of futility as we tramped on through the stinging nettles around the cottage.
The central premise of Effective Altruism is alluringly intuitive. Simply put, EAs want to reduce suffering and increase lifespan and happiness. That’s it; nothing else matters.
Poll Results
Option | Votes |
art, because suffering is our lot in life (philosophio-religio-pessimist option) | 30 |
shit man i dunno just tryina muddle thru (shruggie option) | 16 |
suffering first, art later (if ever) (spartan singerite option) | 5 |
complicated realist stance critical of shruggie complacency (explain) | 5 |
art first, suffering later (decadent firstworld option) | 2 |