The Nonlinear Library EA - Elements of EA: your (EA) identity can be bespoke by Amber Dawn
Nov 29, 2023
07:47
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: Elements of EA: your (EA) identity can be bespoke, published by Amber Dawn on November 29, 2023 on The Effective Altruism Forum.
Lots of people have an angsty, complicated, or fraught relationship with the EA community. When I was thinking through some of my own complicated feelings, I realised that there are lots of elements of EA that I strongly believe in, identify with, and am part of… but lots of others that I'm sceptical about, alienated from, or excluded from.
This generates a feeling of internal conflict, where EA-identification doesn't always feel right or fitting, but at the same time, something meaningful would clearly be lost if I "left" EA, or completely disavowed the community. I thought my reflections might be helpful to others who have similarly ambivalent feelings.
When we're in a community but feel like we're fitting awkwardly, we can either :
(1) ignore it ('you can still be EA even if you don't donate/aren't utilitarian/don't prioritise longtermism/etc')
(2) try to fix it (change the community to fit us better, 'Doing EA better')
(3) leave ('It's ok to leave EA', 'Don't be bycatch').
I want to suggest a fourth option: like the parts you like, dislike the parts you don't, and be aware of it and own it. Not 'keep your identity small' or 'hold your identity lightly' - though those metaphors can be useful too - but make your identity bespoke, a tailor-made, unique garment designed to fit you, and only you, perfectly.
By way of epistemic status/caveat, know that I came up with this idea literally this morning, so I'm not yet taking it too seriously. It might help to read this as advice to myself.
Elements of EA
So, what are some of the threads, colours, cuts, styles that might go in to making your perfect EA-identity coat? I suggest:
Philosophy and theory
'Doing the most good possible' is almost tautologically simple as a principle, but obviously, EAs approach this goal using a host of specific philosophical and theoretical ideas and approaches. Some are held by most EAs, others are disputed. Things like heavy-tailed-ness, expected value, longtermism, randomised controlled trials, utilitarianism, population ethics, rationality, Bayes' theorem, and hits-based giving fall into this category (to name just a few). You might agree with some of these but not others; or, you might disagree with most EA philosophy but still have some EA identification because of the other elements.
Moral obligation
Many EAs hold themselves to moral obligations: for example, to donate a proportion of their income, or to plan their career with positive impact in mind. You can clearly feel these moral obligations without subscribing to the rest of EA: lots of people tithe, and lots of people devote their lives to a cause. Maybe then these principles are enough unique enough to 'count' as central EA elements. But if you add in a commitment to impartiality and effectiveness, I think this does give these moral obligations a distinct flavour; and, importantly, you can aspire to work toward the impartial good, effectively, without agreeing with (most) underlying EA theory, or agreeing with EA cause prioritization.
The four central cause areas
EAs prioritise lots of causes, but four central areas are often used for the purposes of analysis: global health and development, x-risk prevention, animal welfare, and meta-EA. Obviously, you don't need to subscribe to EA theory or EA's ideas about moral obligation to work on nuclear risk prevention, corporate animal welfare campaigns, or curing malaria.
Similarly, you might consider yourself EA, but think that the most pressing cause does not fall into any of these categories, or (more commonly) is de-prioritized within the category (for example, mental health, or wild animal welfare, which are 'niche-r' interests within the wider causes of glo...
Lots of people have an angsty, complicated, or fraught relationship with the EA community. When I was thinking through some of my own complicated feelings, I realised that there are lots of elements of EA that I strongly believe in, identify with, and am part of… but lots of others that I'm sceptical about, alienated from, or excluded from.
This generates a feeling of internal conflict, where EA-identification doesn't always feel right or fitting, but at the same time, something meaningful would clearly be lost if I "left" EA, or completely disavowed the community. I thought my reflections might be helpful to others who have similarly ambivalent feelings.
When we're in a community but feel like we're fitting awkwardly, we can either :
(1) ignore it ('you can still be EA even if you don't donate/aren't utilitarian/don't prioritise longtermism/etc')
(2) try to fix it (change the community to fit us better, 'Doing EA better')
(3) leave ('It's ok to leave EA', 'Don't be bycatch').
I want to suggest a fourth option: like the parts you like, dislike the parts you don't, and be aware of it and own it. Not 'keep your identity small' or 'hold your identity lightly' - though those metaphors can be useful too - but make your identity bespoke, a tailor-made, unique garment designed to fit you, and only you, perfectly.
By way of epistemic status/caveat, know that I came up with this idea literally this morning, so I'm not yet taking it too seriously. It might help to read this as advice to myself.
Elements of EA
So, what are some of the threads, colours, cuts, styles that might go in to making your perfect EA-identity coat? I suggest:
Philosophy and theory
'Doing the most good possible' is almost tautologically simple as a principle, but obviously, EAs approach this goal using a host of specific philosophical and theoretical ideas and approaches. Some are held by most EAs, others are disputed. Things like heavy-tailed-ness, expected value, longtermism, randomised controlled trials, utilitarianism, population ethics, rationality, Bayes' theorem, and hits-based giving fall into this category (to name just a few). You might agree with some of these but not others; or, you might disagree with most EA philosophy but still have some EA identification because of the other elements.
Moral obligation
Many EAs hold themselves to moral obligations: for example, to donate a proportion of their income, or to plan their career with positive impact in mind. You can clearly feel these moral obligations without subscribing to the rest of EA: lots of people tithe, and lots of people devote their lives to a cause. Maybe then these principles are enough unique enough to 'count' as central EA elements. But if you add in a commitment to impartiality and effectiveness, I think this does give these moral obligations a distinct flavour; and, importantly, you can aspire to work toward the impartial good, effectively, without agreeing with (most) underlying EA theory, or agreeing with EA cause prioritization.
The four central cause areas
EAs prioritise lots of causes, but four central areas are often used for the purposes of analysis: global health and development, x-risk prevention, animal welfare, and meta-EA. Obviously, you don't need to subscribe to EA theory or EA's ideas about moral obligation to work on nuclear risk prevention, corporate animal welfare campaigns, or curing malaria.
Similarly, you might consider yourself EA, but think that the most pressing cause does not fall into any of these categories, or (more commonly) is de-prioritized within the category (for example, mental health, or wild animal welfare, which are 'niche-r' interests within the wider causes of glo...