My two cents: I view EA as supererogatory, so I don’t feel bad about my previous lack of donations, but feel good about my current giving.
Changing the “moral baseline” does not really change decisions: seeing “not donating” as bad and “donating” as neutral leads to the same choices as seeing “not donating” as neutral and “donating” as good.
In principle, changing the moral baseline shouldn’t change decisions—if we were fully rational utility maximizers. But for typical humans with human psychology, moral baselines matter greatly, in terms of social signaling, self-signaling, self-esteem, self-image, mental health, etc.
I agree! That’s why I’m happy that I can set it wherever it helps me the most in practice (e.g. makes me feel the “optimal” amount of guilt, potentially 0)
My two cents: I view EA as supererogatory, so I don’t feel bad about my previous lack of donations, but feel good about my current giving.
Changing the “moral baseline” does not really change decisions: seeing “not donating” as bad and “donating” as neutral leads to the same choices as seeing “not donating” as neutral and “donating” as good.
In principle, changing the moral baseline shouldn’t change decisions—if we were fully rational utility maximizers. But for typical humans with human psychology, moral baselines matter greatly, in terms of social signaling, self-signaling, self-esteem, self-image, mental health, etc.
I agree! That’s why I’m happy that I can set it wherever it helps me the most in practice (e.g. makes me feel the “optimal” amount of guilt, potentially 0)