Episode Details

 Getting it right (Part 4: Criticism)

Group discussion is not always efficient. When ­people have their ideas closely aligned to start with, it leads to polarization. When ­people start with conflicting ideas and no common goal, it tends to exacerbate differences. Group discussion is typically beneficial when participants have differ­ent ideas and a common goal

Hugo Mercier and Dan Sperber, The enigma of reason

1. Introduction

This is Part 4 of my series Getting it right. This series highlights ways in which effective altruists think and act admirably.

Part 1 discussed altruism. Many effective altruists donate large parts of their income to charity, and some go further by risking their health in challenge trials or even donating organs to total strangers.

Part 2 discussed global health. Effective altruists were instrumental in the push towards more rigorous and evidence-based methods in global health, and have committed well over a billion dollars to global health causes.

Part 3 discussed ambition. Effective altruists dream big, and they are often successful in bringing about large-scale change.

Today's post discusses criticism. It is hard for movements to engage with their critics. While no one is perfect, effective altruists often do [...]

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Outline:

(00:12) Getting it right (Part 4: Criticism)

(00:46) 1. Introduction

(01:46) 2. Why engage with critics?

(04:20) 3. Engagement with critics

(05:29) 4. Encouraging production of criticism

(06:36) 5. Self-criticism

(07:36) 6. Taking stock

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First published:
March 20th, 2026

Source:
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/MEJgkz5AmBNotrdF5/getting-it-right-criticism

Linkpost URL:
https://reflectivealtruism.com/2026/03/20/getting-it-right-part-4-criticism/

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.