I think you may have the sign wrong on this though:
especially when poly people often face hostility from the rest of society
In general people have decent reasons for the things they do. For this reason, EAs generally align with most of western society on most issues. e.g. we are against theft. The fact that the rest of society is also hostile to thieves isn’t a reason for us to be nice to thieves—it is supportive evidence that we should also avoid theft, because similar reasons apply. Unless there is some strong EA-specific argument at play, I think our default in most scenarios should be to adopt similar norms to the rest of society.
It’s also worth noting that while western society is generally somewhat intolerant of polygamy, much of the world is not. It is legal in much of Africa and Sourthern Asia, and quite common in some countries. However, I generally think we should prefer to adopt western moral norms to those of these places, partly because they often treat women poorly.
While wider western societies are often a good baseline to use, I think it’s important for EA to try to be more moral than our surroundings. Based on my moral standards, if existing norms punish consenting adults for making certain personal decisions about their private lives, we should try to strongly avoid adopting similar hostility (I think this is a pretty widely-endorsed principle in general, and it’s just that others aren’t as consistent about it).
That’s separate from noticing ways in which higher prevalence of polyamory has flow-through effects on other dynamics (like the ones I identified in my previous comment) and trying to ensure those go well; I think that’s a more productive discussion than trying to debate about polyamory as a whole.
While polyamory definitely leads to different dynamics of women’s safety issues(like the ones throwaway5 pointed out), making every discussion of women’s safety as a discussion about poly is unproductive.
I dunno, you’re the one making this very much about that. As is throwaway5, who seems to share your views, writing style, and confusion the difference between polygamy and polyamory.
Thanks for the thoughtful response!
I think you may have the sign wrong on this though:
In general people have decent reasons for the things they do. For this reason, EAs generally align with most of western society on most issues. e.g. we are against theft. The fact that the rest of society is also hostile to thieves isn’t a reason for us to be nice to thieves—it is supportive evidence that we should also avoid theft, because similar reasons apply. Unless there is some strong EA-specific argument at play, I think our default in most scenarios should be to adopt similar norms to the rest of society.
It’s also worth noting that while western society is generally somewhat intolerant of polygamy, much of the world is not. It is legal in much of Africa and Sourthern Asia, and quite common in some countries. However, I generally think we should prefer to adopt western moral norms to those of these places, partly because they often treat women poorly.
While wider western societies are often a good baseline to use, I think it’s important for EA to try to be more moral than our surroundings. Based on my moral standards, if existing norms punish consenting adults for making certain personal decisions about their private lives, we should try to strongly avoid adopting similar hostility (I think this is a pretty widely-endorsed principle in general, and it’s just that others aren’t as consistent about it).
That’s separate from noticing ways in which higher prevalence of polyamory has flow-through effects on other dynamics (like the ones I identified in my previous comment) and trying to ensure those go well; I think that’s a more productive discussion than trying to debate about polyamory as a whole.
+1 agree with Richard.
While polyamory definitely leads to different dynamics of women’s safety issues(like the ones throwaway5 pointed out), making every discussion of women’s safety as a discussion about poly is unproductive.
I dunno, you’re the one making this very much about that. As is throwaway5, who seems to share your views, writing style, and confusion the difference between polygamy and polyamory.