Thank you very much for sharing this; I think it’s a really powerful idea and piece of writing!
I feel similarly to you, however I also strongly identify with the opportunity framing myself – I think this is beause I’ve always seen it a little differently to how you’re expressing it:
For me the “excitement” in the opportunity framing isn’t in finding out that there are people in a very bad situation whom I have an opportunity to help; it comes in finding out that something can be done about problems that I, if in a non-specific sense, already knew about. Before finding out about EA, I (and I’d imagine many others) already knew that the world has lots of terrible experiences and unhappy people in it, and cared about that, but thinking that there was nothing I could do about it, the only practical response was to ignore it and shut the feelings away. The excitement of EA for me is in finding out that, in fact, you can do something real and measurable to help, without unachievable resources. I’m not celebrating finding out about the bomb; I already knew about the bomb – I’ve just found out for the first time that there’s a way out.
I therefore wouldn’t see the opportunity framing as having the problem that you identify. (Although I certainly agree that it’s highly distasteful to come anywhere near excitement at how terrible the world is; I have definitely experienced discourse within EA that has made me uncomfortable for feeling like it’s approaching that.) Is this different to how others who identify with the opportunity framing feel? Rereading Excited Altruism and Cheerfully I see that that distinction isn’t mentioned, but I suppose I’d always assumed that that was how others felt?
Thank you very much for sharing this; I think it’s a really powerful idea and piece of writing!
I feel similarly to you, however I also strongly identify with the opportunity framing myself – I think this is beause I’ve always seen it a little differently to how you’re expressing it:
For me the “excitement” in the opportunity framing isn’t in finding out that there are people in a very bad situation whom I have an opportunity to help; it comes in finding out that something can be done about problems that I, if in a non-specific sense, already knew about. Before finding out about EA, I (and I’d imagine many others) already knew that the world has lots of terrible experiences and unhappy people in it, and cared about that, but thinking that there was nothing I could do about it, the only practical response was to ignore it and shut the feelings away. The excitement of EA for me is in finding out that, in fact, you can do something real and measurable to help, without unachievable resources. I’m not celebrating finding out about the bomb; I already knew about the bomb – I’ve just found out for the first time that there’s a way out.
I therefore wouldn’t see the opportunity framing as having the problem that you identify. (Although I certainly agree that it’s highly distasteful to come anywhere near excitement at how terrible the world is; I have definitely experienced discourse within EA that has made me uncomfortable for feeling like it’s approaching that.) Is this different to how others who identify with the opportunity framing feel? Rereading Excited Altruism and Cheerfully I see that that distinction isn’t mentioned, but I suppose I’d always assumed that that was how others felt?