Yeah. I agree that the tension exists. Cause prioritization is one of the core ideas of EA, so it’s important for us to emphasize that, but delicately so that we don’t alienate others. Personally, I would use I-statements, such as “I care about <issue 1> too, but I’ve chosen to focus on <issue 2> instead because it’s much more neglected,” instead of you-statements that might put the listener on the defensive.
It also reminds me of the idea—which I’ve either heard before or said before—of talking about taking the Giving What We Can pledge by telling the story of what led one to take it, rather than as an argument for why one should take it. A good thing about that is that you can still present the arguments for taking it, as they probably played a role in the story, and if other arguments played a role in other people’s stories you can talk about that too. But it probably feels less pushy or preachy that way, compared to framing it more explicitly as a set of arguments.
I also think asking people questions about why they hold a view you think is wrong that suggestively indicate why you think it’s wrong can be a good approach (e.g. “But don’t you think...?”).
Yeah. I agree that the tension exists. Cause prioritization is one of the core ideas of EA, so it’s important for us to emphasize that, but delicately so that we don’t alienate others. Personally, I would use I-statements, such as “I care about <issue 1> too, but I’ve chosen to focus on <issue 2> instead because it’s much more neglected,” instead of you-statements that might put the listener on the defensive.
That makes sense to me.
It also reminds me of the idea—which I’ve either heard before or said before—of talking about taking the Giving What We Can pledge by telling the story of what led one to take it, rather than as an argument for why one should take it. A good thing about that is that you can still present the arguments for taking it, as they probably played a role in the story, and if other arguments played a role in other people’s stories you can talk about that too. But it probably feels less pushy or preachy that way, compared to framing it more explicitly as a set of arguments.
(These two pages may also be relevant: 1, 2.)
I also think asking people questions about why they hold a view you think is wrong that suggestively indicate why you think it’s wrong can be a good approach (e.g. “But don’t you think...?”).