Right. I wonder if affiliation with EA correlates with an implicit belief that procreation is wrong /​ not worthwhile /​ not clearing the bar of moral behavior...
I suspect that’s not true (due to the popularity of total population ethics in the movement), but would be interested in getting solid empirical data on the point.
The revealed preference of most people who affiliate with EA could easily be that having kids doesn’t clear their implicit moral bar. (This seems to be the case for you.)
This wrongly assumes that people act only on moral reasoning, not other (e.g., personal happiness) factors. It also wrongly assumes that factors that apply to one’s own moral deliberation should universalize to either other EAs or people in general, when in fact I hold neither. I am generally very happy to see other EAs have kids, but don’t feel morally compelled to do so enough to override my selfish preference against.
Right, I think that position is approaching the ideology of the Shakers.
Shakers seemed to believe that any procreation was wrong.
Right. I wonder if affiliation with EA correlates with an implicit belief that procreation is wrong /​ not worthwhile /​ not clearing the bar of moral behavior...
I suspect that’s not true (due to the popularity of total population ethics in the movement), but would be interested in getting solid empirical data on the point.
The revealed preference of most people who affiliate with EA could easily be that having kids doesn’t clear their implicit moral bar. (This seems to be the case for you.)
This wrongly assumes that people act only on moral reasoning, not other (e.g., personal happiness) factors. It also wrongly assumes that factors that apply to one’s own moral deliberation should universalize to either other EAs or people in general, when in fact I hold neither. I am generally very happy to see other EAs have kids, but don’t feel morally compelled to do so enough to override my selfish preference against.
I’m basically trying to wonder about whether or not most people who affiliate with EA share your preference set about this.
That is a very worthwhile question, but invoking Shakerism is likely to obfuscate the process of answering it.