For me, it’s some subset of the above, plus some related points:
Most of my personal and professional successes are due to EA
I feel more successful and happy doing EA stuff than non-EA stuff, at least if I take a gradient descent approach. And there’s a bunch of momentum in not changing.
This isn’t exactly true if I zoom way out, for example FIRE would be within my reach if I wasn’t so altruistically committed, and I suspect not working would make me happier.
On the other hand, I don’t think I would necessarily have even recognized this without EA.
I feel smarter thinking about EA stuff than thinking about e.g. math or programming
Having a “noble” central purpose in my life makes the individual failures in (the rest of) my life feel more bearable
EA lets me justify putting off doing a bunch of things that in other cultures would be called “growing up,” like learning to drive or having children
Non-EA liberal Western society feels increasingly identity-driven, and I like to feel appreciated for my intellectual and community contributions, regardless of how I look
For me, it’s some subset of the above, plus some related points:
Most of my personal and professional successes are due to EA
I feel more successful and happy doing EA stuff than non-EA stuff, at least if I take a gradient descent approach. And there’s a bunch of momentum in not changing.
This isn’t exactly true if I zoom way out, for example FIRE would be within my reach if I wasn’t so altruistically committed, and I suspect not working would make me happier.
On the other hand, I don’t think I would necessarily have even recognized this without EA.
I feel smarter thinking about EA stuff than thinking about e.g. math or programming
Having a “noble” central purpose in my life makes the individual failures in (the rest of) my life feel more bearable
EA lets me justify putting off doing a bunch of things that in other cultures would be called “growing up,” like learning to drive or having children
Non-EA liberal Western society feels increasingly identity-driven, and I like to feel appreciated for my intellectual and community contributions, regardless of how I look