Scott Alexander discusses Robin Hanson's idea of investing charitable donations for later use, exploring psychological resistance and attempting to debunk it with various arguments. Longer summary

Scott Alexander attends a talk on efficient charity and discusses Robin Hanson's controversial ideas about investing charitable donations instead of giving immediately. He explores the psychological resistance to this idea and attempts to debunk it with various arguments, including the declining efficacy of charity over time and the possibility of a technological singularity. Despite initially expecting to conclude that investing donations is a bad idea, his rough calculations suggest it might be beneficial unless there's a high chance of catastrophic events preventing future donation. Shorter summary