And this point from a post Peter Wildeford wrote: “I think criticism of EA may be more discouraging than it is intended to be and we don’t think about this enough.”
In theory, the EA movement isn’t about us as EAs. It’s about doing good for others. But in practice, we’re all humans, and I think it’s human nature to have an expectation of recognition/gratitude when we’ve done an altruistic act. If instead of gratitude, we get a punishment in the form of a bad outcome or sharp words, that feels like a bait & switch.
My hypothesis is that being surrounded by other do-gooders makes the situation worse. You feel like you’re in a recognition deficit, many people around you feel the same way, and no one is injecting gratitude into the ecosystem to resolve the misery spiral. Internal debates exacerbate things, insofar as trying to understand someone else’s perspective depletes the same emotional resource that altruism does.
Anyway, most of that wasn’t very specific to your post—I’m just wondering if emphasizing “other-care” in addition to “self-care” would help us weather ups & downs.
And, thanks to all the EAs reading this for all the good you are doing.
Thanks for all your hard work, Megan.
I’m reminded of this post from a few months ago: Does Sam make me want to renounce the actions of the EA community? No. Does your reaction? Absolutely.
And this point from a post Peter Wildeford wrote: “I think criticism of EA may be more discouraging than it is intended to be and we don’t think about this enough.”
In theory, the EA movement isn’t about us as EAs. It’s about doing good for others. But in practice, we’re all humans, and I think it’s human nature to have an expectation of recognition/gratitude when we’ve done an altruistic act. If instead of gratitude, we get a punishment in the form of a bad outcome or sharp words, that feels like a bait & switch.
My hypothesis is that being surrounded by other do-gooders makes the situation worse. You feel like you’re in a recognition deficit, many people around you feel the same way, and no one is injecting gratitude into the ecosystem to resolve the misery spiral. Internal debates exacerbate things, insofar as trying to understand someone else’s perspective depletes the same emotional resource that altruism does.
Anyway, most of that wasn’t very specific to your post—I’m just wondering if emphasizing “other-care” in addition to “self-care” would help us weather ups & downs.
And, thanks to all the EAs reading this for all the good you are doing.