Comment by Remco_Gerlich on Circular Altruism · 2008-01-23T11:39:53.000Z · LW · GW

I think this article could have been improved by splitting it into two; one of them to discuss the original problem (is it better to save 400 for sure than to gamble on saving 500 with certainty 90%), and the other to discuss the reasons why people pick the other one if you rephrase the question. They're both interesting, but presenting them at once makes the discussion too confused.

And the second half... specks of dust in the eye and torture can both be described as "bad things". That doesn't mean they're the same kind of thing with different magnitudes. That was mostly a waste of time to me.