“True, but a lot of people are also struggling just to find a job that would be both enjoyable and provide a sufficient wage to pay the bills.”
Agreed, so in that context, how does it make more sense to tell somebody that they should care about helping other people as much as they possibly can? I don’t see that train of thought getting through to many people in this situation.
I don’t want to tell anyone that they should care about helping as many people as possible. I want to tell them that they have a fantastic, exciting opportunity to help lots of people and have a big impact on the world, if they want to.
Someone who is struggling to find a meaningful job might also be someone who’s struggling to find some purpose for their life in general. (This has been true for me.) That might make them exceptionally receptive to a cause that does offer such a purpose.
Yes, this seems right. A lot of people could usefully contribute to effective altruism seem turned off by moralisation. And some effective altruists are demotivated by it. It’s generally pretty easy to make a point about how people can help without using the word ‘should’, ‘ought’ or ‘obligated’. I think it’s better to engage our intuitive and emotional mind with this talk of excitement.
“True, but a lot of people are also struggling just to find a job that would be both enjoyable and provide a sufficient wage to pay the bills.”
Agreed, so in that context, how does it make more sense to tell somebody that they should care about helping other people as much as they possibly can? I don’t see that train of thought getting through to many people in this situation.
I don’t want to tell anyone that they should care about helping as many people as possible. I want to tell them that they have a fantastic, exciting opportunity to help lots of people and have a big impact on the world, if they want to.
Someone who is struggling to find a meaningful job might also be someone who’s struggling to find some purpose for their life in general. (This has been true for me.) That might make them exceptionally receptive to a cause that does offer such a purpose.
Yes, this seems right. A lot of people could usefully contribute to effective altruism seem turned off by moralisation. And some effective altruists are demotivated by it. It’s generally pretty easy to make a point about how people can help without using the word ‘should’, ‘ought’ or ‘obligated’. I think it’s better to engage our intuitive and emotional mind with this talk of excitement.