One worry I’ve had for a while is that efforts to increase demographic diversity, at least to groups that face particular struggles, could be inherently futile. At the risk of lapsing into postmodern gobbledygook, I think it can be difficult for people who face direct, personal struggles to embrace the universality and objectivity EA aims for. One thing I think about is Mullainathan and Shafir’s Scarcity, which talks about the degree to which poverty frames and distorts consumer behavior, and I think struggles that various marginalized groups face may have similar effects. It’s hard to help others when you’re actively fighting for yourself.
(Anecdotally, on a personal level, as a gay man with an upper middle class upbringing, I find it easy to subscribe to EA, but I don’t think I would have when I was closeted and mired in anxiety and self-doubt.)
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs idea points to the same conclusion if you figure EA is a form of self-actualization. I suspect some EAs would be more effective in the long run if they focused on EA less and focused on meeting prerequisite needs in the hierarchy more.
One worry I’ve had for a while is that efforts to increase demographic diversity, at least to groups that face particular struggles, could be inherently futile. At the risk of lapsing into postmodern gobbledygook, I think it can be difficult for people who face direct, personal struggles to embrace the universality and objectivity EA aims for. One thing I think about is Mullainathan and Shafir’s Scarcity, which talks about the degree to which poverty frames and distorts consumer behavior, and I think struggles that various marginalized groups face may have similar effects. It’s hard to help others when you’re actively fighting for yourself.
(Anecdotally, on a personal level, as a gay man with an upper middle class upbringing, I find it easy to subscribe to EA, but I don’t think I would have when I was closeted and mired in anxiety and self-doubt.)
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs idea points to the same conclusion if you figure EA is a form of self-actualization. I suspect some EAs would be more effective in the long run if they focused on EA less and focused on meeting prerequisite needs in the hierarchy more.