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Counterfactual Muggings and Repugnant Conclusions

I get that it’s weird to recommend a book review but not the book itself. Yet here we are.

I enjoy reading public philosophy, especially the stuff that relates to altruism and doing good in the world. In 2022, Will MacAskill and his book What We Owe the Future made the rounds on just about every podcast there is. I read most of it before I set it aside.

Instead of telling you what I think about it, though, I recommend reading this fantastic review by Scott Alexander. I learned a great deal and was also entertained, which is my favorite kind of reading.

“I realize this is ‘anti-intellectual’ and ‘defeating the entire point of philosophy’. If you want to complain, you can find me in World A, along with my 4,999,999,999 blissfully happy friends.”

Book Review: What We Owe The Future - by Scott Alexander

Podcast Interview - The Lisa Show

I recently had a chance to sit down with Lisa Valentine Clark and talk about social impact in day-to-day life. This is the first episode in a series on the topic. Lisa and her team have done a fantastic job.

“Have you ever avoided eye contact with someone holding a cardboard sign? Or felt a twinge as you skipped a YouTube ad asking for charitable donations? Help is needed everywhere, and good people want to help. But those good intentions can quickly turn to paralysis, overwhelm, and a lingering sense of shame for not ‘doing more.’ Meanwhile, experts in helping (that's a real thing!) know that making the world a better place isn't compatible with shame. Lisa tours The Other Side Academy to learn how a few individuals regularly beat the odds and make an extraordinary impact in their community. Aaron Miller from the Ballard Center for Social Impact shares how falling in love with a problem holds the key to transforming that old, familiar, paralyzing guilt into hope, and how anyone can empower themselves to make a difference in the world by making a switch: from doomscrolling to doing good better.”

Doing Good Better | The Lisa Show

Boeing workers skipped safety tests and lied about them

More evidence of safety and ethical failure at Boeing. This is going to end up as a teaching case in business ethics classes for years to come.

“The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating whether Boeing failed to complete required inspections on 787 Dreamliner planes and whether Boeing employees falsified aircraft records, the agency said this week. The investigation was launched after an employee reported the problem to Boeing management, and Boeing informed the FAA.”

Boeing says workers skipped required tests on 787 but recorded work as completed | Ars Technica

The call for calm companies

In response to the tech layoffs from a little while back—which are still affecting people I know and care about—Justin Jackson writes that we need more calm companies. Hear, hear.

“This is a sad reality of corporations optimizing for investor returns: the people who work on and buy the product suffer. Good employees are fired, and useful products are shut down. This chaos has reaffirmed my belief that we need more calm companies.

We need more calm companies

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