Comments on: Lost Charity http://www.overcomingbias.com/2009/09/lost-charity.html Overcoming Bias is economist Robin Hanson’s blog, on honesty, signaling, disagreement, forecasting, and the far future. Sat, 20 Mar 2010 05:31:38 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Patri Friedman http://www.overcomingbias.com/2009/09/lost-charity.html#comment-432723 Patri Friedman Mon, 14 Sep 2009 03:11:49 +0000 http://www.overcomingbias.com/?p=19592#comment-432723 I don't know that it would be bad, but it would be less good than having population growth. A higher population hurts average happiness when most happiness is generated from fixed resources which people compete for. It helps average happiness when most happiness is generated from ideas and other creations which can easily be shared without loss. Right now, we are far closer to the latter than the former, and we probably will stay there until we run out of room in the universe. I don’t know that it would be bad, but it would be less good than having population growth. A higher population hurts average happiness when most happiness is generated from fixed resources which people compete for. It helps average happiness when most happiness is generated from ideas and other creations which can easily be shared without loss. Right now, we are far closer to the latter than the former, and we probably will stay there until we run out of room in the universe.

]]> By: Mark Przepiora http://www.overcomingbias.com/2009/09/lost-charity.html#comment-432481 Mark Przepiora Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:11:13 +0000 http://www.overcomingbias.com/?p=19592#comment-432481 Diogenese wins the comments thread. Sometimes I'm convinced this blog is an elaborate joke. Diogenese wins the comments thread.

Sometimes I’m convinced this blog is an elaborate joke.

]]> By: Barnaby Dawson http://www.overcomingbias.com/2009/09/lost-charity.html#comment-432479 Barnaby Dawson Tue, 08 Sep 2009 12:14:50 +0000 http://www.overcomingbias.com/?p=19592#comment-432479 You say: "We already have too much medicine and academia, because such things are mainly wasteful signals." I don't agree with this point. Spending on health care and education is strongly correlated with future growth. There are several plausible theories for why we should expect this and the evidence seems largely to support causation here. You don't provide any argument to support your claim. Until you do I'm not even vaguely convinced. I'm sure that many professors spend time on economically and culturally unimportant musings and that many medical procedures occur that do not contribute much to the overall well being of society. Its just that I don't think business does much better and there are some things for which a profit motive isn't the most effective driver. I think this post has a right wing economic bias. You say: “We already have too much medicine and academia, because such things are mainly wasteful signals.”

I don’t agree with this point. Spending on health care and education is strongly correlated with future growth. There are several plausible theories for why we should expect this and the evidence seems largely to support causation here.

You don’t provide any argument to support your claim. Until you do I’m not even vaguely convinced.

I’m sure that many professors spend time on economically and culturally unimportant musings and that many medical procedures occur that do not contribute much to the overall well being of society. Its just that I don’t think business does much better and there are some things for which a profit motive isn’t the most effective driver.

I think this post has a right wing economic bias.

]]> By: fburnaby http://www.overcomingbias.com/2009/09/lost-charity.html#comment-432269 fburnaby Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:15:05 +0000 http://www.overcomingbias.com/?p=19592#comment-432269 Why would zero population growth be bad? Why would zero population growth be bad?

]]> By: Nancy Lebovitz http://www.overcomingbias.com/2009/09/lost-charity.html#comment-432266 Nancy Lebovitz Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:18:35 +0000 http://www.overcomingbias.com/?p=19592#comment-432266 Maybe Alex Grass had a clear idea of what he was good at. Maybe there was background innovation in Rite Aid, but what it looks like from the outside is the result of taking a sound standard idea and being dedicated to expanding it. If he thought he wasn't likely to come up with a useful new sort of charity, he might have been right. Or maybe he should have worked on expanding existing good charities into chains. Maybe Alex Grass had a clear idea of what he was good at. Maybe there was background innovation in Rite Aid, but what it looks like from the outside is the result of taking a sound standard idea and being dedicated to expanding it.

If he thought he wasn’t likely to come up with a useful new sort of charity, he might have been right. Or maybe he should have worked on expanding existing good charities into chains.

]]> By: gwern http://www.overcomingbias.com/2009/09/lost-charity.html#comment-432263 gwern Thu, 03 Sep 2009 09:46:04 +0000 http://www.overcomingbias.com/?p=19592#comment-432263 > Now, that is rich. What facts have you in support of such an assertion? From where I’m sitting (working on government-funded anti-aging research) we don’t have nearly enough medicine, and won’t until aging is a treatable disease. Robin has posted dozens of times about wastefulness in medicine and academia; although perhaps it is rich of me to expect commenters to do things like click on that enormous 'Medcine' tag link on the righthand side, and read what was written... > Now, that is rich. What facts have you in support of such an assertion? From where I’m sitting (working on government-funded anti-aging research) we don’t have nearly enough medicine, and won’t until aging is a treatable disease.

Robin has posted dozens of times about wastefulness in medicine and academia; although perhaps it is rich of me to expect commenters to do things like click on that enormous ‘Medcine’ tag link on the righthand side, and read what was written…

]]> By: Overcoming Bias : Lost Charity – The Facebook News http://www.overcomingbias.com/2009/09/lost-charity.html#comment-432261 Overcoming Bias : Lost Charity – The Facebook News Thu, 03 Sep 2009 04:50:05 +0000 http://www.overcomingbias.com/?p=19592#comment-432261 [...] Robin Hanson wrote an interesting post today onOvercoming Bias : Lost CharityHere’s a quick excerpt [...] [...] Robin Hanson wrote an interesting post today onOvercoming Bias : Lost CharityHere’s a quick excerpt [...]

]]> By: George http://www.overcomingbias.com/2009/09/lost-charity.html#comment-432259 George Thu, 03 Sep 2009 04:21:58 +0000 http://www.overcomingbias.com/?p=19592#comment-432259 I think we should give Alex Grass the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps he ran out of innovative business ideas and wasn't able to judge other peoples. His charitable giving was then the least worst think he could do with his money. I think we should give Alex Grass the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps he ran out of innovative business ideas and wasn’t able to judge other peoples. His charitable giving was then the least worst think he could do with his money.

]]> By: TGGP http://www.overcomingbias.com/2009/09/lost-charity.html#comment-432257 TGGP Thu, 03 Sep 2009 03:47:38 +0000 http://www.overcomingbias.com/?p=19592#comment-432257 Didn't Robin <a href="http://www.overcomingbias.com/2009/08/tax-investment.html" rel="nofollow">previously</a> say that such competitions are wasteful? Didn’t Robin previously say that such competitions are wasteful?

]]> By: diogenese http://www.overcomingbias.com/2009/09/lost-charity.html#comment-432255 diogenese Thu, 03 Sep 2009 01:37:09 +0000 http://www.overcomingbias.com/?p=19592#comment-432255 Community College -- The NEW status signal for the social elite in America. Community College — The NEW status signal for the social elite in America.

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