welcome to the nonlinear library, where we use text-to-speech software to convert the best writing from the rationalist and ea communities into audio.
this is: Collection of good 2012-2017 EA forum posts, published by saulius on the effective altruism forum.
I feel that older EA forum posts are not read nearly as much as they should. Hence, I collected the ones that seemed to be the most useful and still relevant today. I recommend going through this list in the same way you would go through the frontpage of this forum: reading the titles and clicking on the ones that seem interesting and relevant to you. Note that you can hover over links to see more details about each post.
Also note that many of these posts have lower karma scores than most posts posted nowadays. This is in large part because until September 2018, all votes were worth only one karma point, and before September 2014 there was no karma system at all. Furthermore, the forum readership used to be lower. Hence, I don’t advise to pay too much attention to karma when choosing which of these posts to read. Most of these posts had a significantly higher karma than other posts posted around the same time.
To create this list, I skimmed through the titles (and sometimes the contents) of all posts posted between 2012 and 2017. I relied on my intuition to decide which posts to include. Undoubtedly, I missed some good ones. Please feel free to point them out in the comments.
Also note that in some cases the information in these posts might be outdated, or no longer reflect the opinions of their authors.
Communication
Supportive Scepticism
See also: Supportive scepticism in practice
Some Thoughts on Public Discourse
Six Ways To Get Along With People Who Are Totally Wrong
If you don't have good evidence one thing is better than another, don't pretend you do
You have a set amount of "weirdness points". Spend them wisely.
General reasoning
In defence of epistemic modesty
Integrity for consequentialists
Beware surprising and suspicious convergence
Cause-prioritization
Why I'm skeptical about unproven causes (and you should be too)
Follow up: Where I've Changed My Mind on My Approach to Speculative Causes
How we can make it easier to change your mind about cause areas
Cause prioritization for downside-focused value systems
Five Ways to Handle Flow-Through Effects
Post series by Micheal Dickens
Long-term Future
AI Safety Literature reviews by Larks: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
Will we eventually be able to colonize other stars? Notes from a preliminary review
The timing of labour aimed at reducing existential risk
Cognitive Science/Psychology As a Neglected Approach to AI Safety
Principia Qualia: blueprint for a new cause area, consciousness research with an eye toward ethics and x-risk
Why might the future be good?
Personal thoughts on careers in AI policy and strategy
My current thoughts on MIRI's "highly reliable agent design" work
Improving disaster shelters to increase the chances of recovery from a global catastrophe
Why long-run focused effective altruism is more common sense
Advice on how to think about altruism
Effective Altruism is a Question (not an ideology)
Response: Effective Altruism is an Ideology, not (just) a Question
Cheerfully
Effective Altruism is Not a Competition
Personal consumption changes as charity (a suggestion about how to decide whether to buy more expensive but more ethical products)
Aim high, even if you fall short
An embarrassment of riches
Parenthood and effective altruism
How much does it cost to have a child?
EA is the best choice I've ever made
Room for Other Things: How to adjust if EA seems overwhelming
On everyday altruism and the local circle
Helping other altruists
Effective altruism as the most exciting cause in the world
For more advice on how to think about altruism, see excellent blogs Minding our way (by Nate Soares) and Giving Gladly (by Julia Wise)
Movement strategy
Keeping the effective altruist movement welcoming
The perspectives...
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