The view you put forward is tempting, but I think it also misses important aspects of why what you consider “fishy” about the Sue to poet scenario is not.
You suggest it is possible to develop other passions, and I agree that this is possible, but this fails to account for the human aspect of doing this. Most people are not psychological safe enough to simply switch passions to something that it would be beneficial to be passionate about given the massive amount of experience necessary to make something new feel good enough to be passionate about given the difficulty of making that change while embedded in the conditions of life as they are for an individual. It can be done, but it takes longer and is harder to succeed at than simply thinking it’s possible implies, such that Sue the poet’s reason is hardly fishy, but instead a recognition that she may not be situated to be able to make the change that she would need to to be a more effective altruist.
This is not to say that she couldn’t and that she might use this as an excuse to avoid doing what she thinks is necessary to excuse doing what is convenient, but to say that we should have compassion for those who may find they agree with EA but find they cannot immediately make the changes they would like to due to life conditions, and we should not judge them as less good EAs even if they are less able to contribute to EA missions than if they were a different person in a different world that doesn’t exist.
This is not to say that she couldn’t and that she might use this as an excuse to avoid doing what she thinks is necessary to excuse doing what is convenient, but to say that we should have compassion for those who may find they agree with EA but find they cannot immediately make the changes they would like to due to life conditions, and we should not judge them as less good EAs even if they are less able to contribute to EA missions than if they were a different person in a different world that doesn’t exist.
This is great, and I’d like to add some follow-up comments in light of it.
My main point was really that passion is a contingent, rather than an intrinsic, thing. If you’re into X instead of Y, that could be because you invested more time in X, not because you “fundamentally” don’t find Y interesting. This may seem uplifting to some EAs: it means that many people have vastly more potential to do good than they might have originally thought!
But I agree that there’s something about the “human experience” that my explanation is missing. This is because “contingent” doesn’t directly imply “fungible” or “interchangeable” – people (usually) can’t fluidly change what they’re interested in or passionate about, even if those interests or passions stem from “contingent” factors. I think, as a result, I described Sue’s case in a slightly unfair and judgmental way (in a way that’s probably not totally healthy, individually or as a community). Real people are subject to all sorts of cognitive and emotional constraints that the original post does not properly recognize.
On a personal note – this post was (on some level) an attempt to rationalize a decision I’m currently going through in my own life. I’m a recent college graduate trying to decide whether to apply to graduate programs in philosophy, or to do something else. I kind of feel like Sue – maybe I could do something in philosophy, but maybe I could do something even more significant elsewhere, if only I invested as much time elsewhere as I have in philosophy. I know my interest in philosophy is contingent, in a sense, but I wonder how fungible it is.
I add this personal note in part to say that I can empathize with the kind of EAs you describe.
The view you put forward is tempting, but I think it also misses important aspects of why what you consider “fishy” about the Sue to poet scenario is not.
You suggest it is possible to develop other passions, and I agree that this is possible, but this fails to account for the human aspect of doing this. Most people are not psychological safe enough to simply switch passions to something that it would be beneficial to be passionate about given the massive amount of experience necessary to make something new feel good enough to be passionate about given the difficulty of making that change while embedded in the conditions of life as they are for an individual. It can be done, but it takes longer and is harder to succeed at than simply thinking it’s possible implies, such that Sue the poet’s reason is hardly fishy, but instead a recognition that she may not be situated to be able to make the change that she would need to to be a more effective altruist.
This is not to say that she couldn’t and that she might use this as an excuse to avoid doing what she thinks is necessary to excuse doing what is convenient, but to say that we should have compassion for those who may find they agree with EA but find they cannot immediately make the changes they would like to due to life conditions, and we should not judge them as less good EAs even if they are less able to contribute to EA missions than if they were a different person in a different world that doesn’t exist.
This is great, and I’d like to add some follow-up comments in light of it.
My main point was really that passion is a contingent, rather than an intrinsic, thing. If you’re into X instead of Y, that could be because you invested more time in X, not because you “fundamentally” don’t find Y interesting. This may seem uplifting to some EAs: it means that many people have vastly more potential to do good than they might have originally thought!
But I agree that there’s something about the “human experience” that my explanation is missing. This is because “contingent” doesn’t directly imply “fungible” or “interchangeable” – people (usually) can’t fluidly change what they’re interested in or passionate about, even if those interests or passions stem from “contingent” factors. I think, as a result, I described Sue’s case in a slightly unfair and judgmental way (in a way that’s probably not totally healthy, individually or as a community). Real people are subject to all sorts of cognitive and emotional constraints that the original post does not properly recognize.
On a personal note – this post was (on some level) an attempt to rationalize a decision I’m currently going through in my own life. I’m a recent college graduate trying to decide whether to apply to graduate programs in philosophy, or to do something else. I kind of feel like Sue – maybe I could do something in philosophy, but maybe I could do something even more significant elsewhere, if only I invested as much time elsewhere as I have in philosophy. I know my interest in philosophy is contingent, in a sense, but I wonder how fungible it is.
I add this personal note in part to say that I can empathize with the kind of EAs you describe.