interestingly i’ve talked to a couple of other asian women in EA who have sort of an opposite experience—we (including myself here) feel like EA ideas and communities fundamentally don’t capture things that are important to us as asian women, and so that actually forces us to be more balanced and draw our values from multiple places, rather than holding ourselves to a standard of being a more-optimized EA. one very literal example someone mentioned to me is that western cultures and traditions of thought emphasize breaking down systems into discrete parts and optimizing on single goals, and eastern cultures/traditions value more holistic thinking and balance.
i can also 100% see where you’re coming from, as someone who grew up in a very competitive asian/immigrant community myself—i’m sharing another experience not to discount yours, but more to highlight alternate ways of thinking about your own relating to EA that might help you find that balance!
as a former optimizer: #1 thing that helped was therapy
Thanks for your comment ethai! I think I’ve read somewhere about that example of eastern cultures/traditions being generally more holistic but forgot from whom. Appreciate you bringing this alternative perspective! :)
interestingly i’ve talked to a couple of other asian women in EA who have sort of an opposite experience—we (including myself here) feel like EA ideas and communities fundamentally don’t capture things that are important to us as asian women, and so that actually forces us to be more balanced and draw our values from multiple places, rather than holding ourselves to a standard of being a more-optimized EA. one very literal example someone mentioned to me is that western cultures and traditions of thought emphasize breaking down systems into discrete parts and optimizing on single goals, and eastern cultures/traditions value more holistic thinking and balance.
i can also 100% see where you’re coming from, as someone who grew up in a very competitive asian/immigrant community myself—i’m sharing another experience not to discount yours, but more to highlight alternate ways of thinking about your own relating to EA that might help you find that balance!
as a former optimizer: #1 thing that helped was therapy
Thanks for your comment ethai! I think I’ve read somewhere about that example of eastern cultures/traditions being generally more holistic but forgot from whom. Appreciate you bringing this alternative perspective! :)