If you eat in the way I describe you still get the signalling benefits and you donāt have to do expected value calculations with every decision.
In fact, you might have better signalling effects because it shows youāre not just blindly virtue signalling but actually trying to solve the problem.
Also, if you look and are healthier, people will find that more persuasive.
I think this kind of signal might work for high-functioning EAs, but not for your average person. Itās too complicated: āI donāt want to participate in a practice that harms animalsā is much easier to understand.
By the logic youāve expressed in the post, I think you could also consider eating leftover meat, meat thatās for free, meat thatās from someone you knowā¦ so it gets complicated. My expectation is that most people see such behaviour, and think this person kind of cares about animal welfare, but only a bit.
That all said, I think (although Iām uncertain) that reason (1) in my last comment might actually be the most important.
I agree that there is likely a trade-off between thoughtfulness and clarity, but I donāt think most EAs are going to signal much to the average person. The signalling will mostly happen within their social circle, which tend to be more educated and likely more open to complicated reasoning.
Thatās fair. It would be cool if there was a way to measure this empirically. I donāt really see from my own experience that it has this effect: Iām sure Iāve alienated some people by seeming extreme, but I can also point to more people than I can easily count who have become vegetarian after talking to me about it, and I think we only got talking because I was strictābecause being strict is more noticeable, and perhaps more impressive. And when I explain my reasons, Iāve never had the response āthat seems overly dogmaticā.
But Iām not sure that this is even the main reason not to eat meat. Related to my point (1) above, I also donāt want to eat meat (or even want to desire it) for the sake of my own psychology: because I want to view animals similarly to humans, and I think eating dead people is gross. That might seem like less of a rational reason, but I think emotions are important motivators and reinforce our rational beliefs, at least for most humans.
If you eat in the way I describe you still get the signalling benefits and you donāt have to do expected value calculations with every decision.
In fact, you might have better signalling effects because it shows youāre not just blindly virtue signalling but actually trying to solve the problem.
Also, if you look and are healthier, people will find that more persuasive.
I think this kind of signal might work for high-functioning EAs, but not for your average person. Itās too complicated: āI donāt want to participate in a practice that harms animalsā is much easier to understand.
By the logic youāve expressed in the post, I think you could also consider eating leftover meat, meat thatās for free, meat thatās from someone you knowā¦ so it gets complicated. My expectation is that most people see such behaviour, and think this person kind of cares about animal welfare, but only a bit.
That all said, I think (although Iām uncertain) that reason (1) in my last comment might actually be the most important.
I agree that there is likely a trade-off between thoughtfulness and clarity, but I donāt think most EAs are going to signal much to the average person. The signalling will mostly happen within their social circle, which tend to be more educated and likely more open to complicated reasoning.
Thatās fair. It would be cool if there was a way to measure this empirically. I donāt really see from my own experience that it has this effect: Iām sure Iāve alienated some people by seeming extreme, but I can also point to more people than I can easily count who have become vegetarian after talking to me about it, and I think we only got talking because I was strictābecause being strict is more noticeable, and perhaps more impressive. And when I explain my reasons, Iāve never had the response āthat seems overly dogmaticā.
But Iām not sure that this is even the main reason not to eat meat. Related to my point (1) above, I also donāt want to eat meat (or even want to desire it) for the sake of my own psychology: because I want to view animals similarly to humans, and I think eating dead people is gross. That might seem like less of a rational reason, but I think emotions are important motivators and reinforce our rational beliefs, at least for most humans.