in practice both EAs and rationalists have a catholic appetite for involving themselves in all sorts of controversies. Effective altruism

At any rate, the people sitting around Sam’s living room and talking about where Sam’s money was being spent weren’t talking about buying bed nets for children in Africa, to prevent malaria. They were looking for clever ways to reduce existential risk. The sums they were able to give away were about to increase dramatically—or so they all imagined.

All of this is true. Nevertheless, a key realization for a tech founder should be that a significant fraction of people want moral progress. Just as much as the technologist wants to get to Mars, a large chunk of society wants to feel like the good guys fighting in some grand cause. And if you don’t give them that cause, they’ll make one up, and/or