This is excellent. I have a question I hope you include in your ongoing research:
Are these psychological traits fixed, or can they change?
Background: It is possible my case is unique, but I have changed toward these effectiveness-focused, and expansive altruism traits; having discovered EA in June 2021 I have changed my career path, returned to school to pursue an EA career, taken the GWWC pledge, etc. As recently as 7 years ago, I would not have identified with these traits. Seeing the photo of the dead Syrian refugee boy , Alan Kurdi, (trigger warning for the photo) on the Turkish beach was the turning point for me. Prior, my moral circle was small, and I had not considered the relevance of effectiveness in charitable giving.
I wonder if other EAs always identified with these traits, had a moment of “enlightenment”, or gradually changed.
Searching for proto-EA communities makes sense for increasing EA, but would it also be helpful to discover if current EAs have changed or evolved into these traits, and what were the factors?
This is excellent. I have a question I hope you include in your ongoing research:
Are these psychological traits fixed, or can they change?
Background: It is possible my case is unique, but I have changed toward these effectiveness-focused, and expansive altruism traits; having discovered EA in June 2021 I have changed my career path, returned to school to pursue an EA career, taken the GWWC pledge, etc. As recently as 7 years ago, I would not have identified with these traits. Seeing the photo of the dead Syrian refugee boy , Alan Kurdi, (trigger warning for the photo) on the Turkish beach was the turning point for me. Prior, my moral circle was small, and I had not considered the relevance of effectiveness in charitable giving.
I wonder if other EAs always identified with these traits, had a moment of “enlightenment”, or gradually changed.
Searching for proto-EA communities makes sense for increasing EA, but would it also be helpful to discover if current EAs have changed or evolved into these traits, and what were the factors?