I donât think thereâs anything necessary or inevitable about it! My sentiments reflect things Iâve seen other people say (e.g. âI donât know if I count as an âeffective altruistâ, Iâm new here/âdonât have belief Xâ), but how people feel about this and other identity questions is (of course) all over the map. And as I said, I have no problem with anyone referring to themselves as an effective altruistâI just donât have a problem with the opposite, either.
To use the church analogy: If some people at a church call themselves âChristiansâ, others âSouthern Baptistsâ, others âreligious seekersâ, others âspiritualâ, and still others âagnostic/âuncertainâ, I wouldnât expect that to make things less comfortable for newcomers. (Though attending Unitarian church as a kid might have left me biased in this area!)
I agree that there are many reasons someone might feel uncomfortable at a conference or community event, and I think we both see the particular question of when to use âeffective altruistâ is just one tiny facet of community cohesion.
I donât think thereâs anything necessary or inevitable about it! My sentiments reflect things Iâve seen other people say (e.g. âI donât know if I count as an âeffective altruistâ, Iâm new here/âdonât have belief Xâ), but how people feel about this and other identity questions is (of course) all over the map. And as I said, I have no problem with anyone referring to themselves as an effective altruistâI just donât have a problem with the opposite, either.
To use the church analogy: If some people at a church call themselves âChristiansâ, others âSouthern Baptistsâ, others âreligious seekersâ, others âspiritualâ, and still others âagnostic/âuncertainâ, I wouldnât expect that to make things less comfortable for newcomers. (Though attending Unitarian church as a kid might have left me biased in this area!)
I agree that there are many reasons someone might feel uncomfortable at a conference or community event, and I think we both see the particular question of when to use âeffective altruistâ is just one tiny facet of community cohesion.