AMMDI is an open-notebook hypertext writing experiment, authored by Mike Travers aka mtraven. It's a work in progress and some parts are more polished than others. Comments welcome! More.

These both seem like kind of naive programs, but the latter has the convenient feature that it requires no challenges to existing power structures, nor dropping out and living according to newfound values. All it requires is making a lot of money in some professional role and giving a chunk of it to the effective altruism people who will make sure it gets used according to best utilitarian principles.

So the SSC scenario doesn't have much to do with Rawls actual Theory of Justice. This is not surprising. The politics of SSC and of "Rationalism" more generally do not have a lot of time for justice – they may not be right-wing, but they are definitely against "social justice" in all its forms. Their preferred method of helping the unfortunate is mechanized and rationalized charity (effective altruism), not the universal rights of a liberal order. They are broadly libertarian, and a Rawlsian society relies on a coercive and redistributive state to ensure justice and fairness.

effective altruism

27 Jul 2026 - 27 Jul 2026

An offshoot of rationalism, an attempt to do good for the world using rational principles. Didn't work out very well, but I have some sympathy for the motives – here are a bunch of autists, they aren't monsters and care about suffering, but can't quite summon up empathy, so this numerical utility-maxxing is a substitute. Props to them for trying to help.