Those stupid reasons: In my previous non-EA group living arrangement, I felt frustrated by the conflict between being locally helpful and globally effective. But then when I got to the EA Hotel, I felt this conflict was resolved yet still wasn’t very locally kind or helpful, so maybe the salience of this conflict only ever existed as a justification for being lazy.
I’m curious to know how other people have experienced the transition to and from EA bubbles with respect to this tension.
If you think a community has a “local kindness gap” that you can fill, and that gap seems to be reducing how well that community is doing at achieving its goals, it’s reasonable to think that being a kind person in that community will end up doing more good than you’d expect to do if you were being kind in a random other community.
That said, there are also downsides to strengthening bubbles, and I’d expect (quick thoughts, haven’t pondered this much) that a “locally kind person with EA inclinations” would be most effective in place that has a small/new EA community, where the marginal value of extra (dinner hosting/event organizing/grabbing coffee with new arrivals) seems higher than in a place where there are already lots of events and chances for new folks to get involved.
Those stupid reasons: In my previous non-EA group living arrangement, I felt frustrated by the conflict between being locally helpful and globally effective. But then when I got to the EA Hotel, I felt this conflict was resolved yet still wasn’t very locally kind or helpful, so maybe the salience of this conflict only ever existed as a justification for being lazy.
I’m curious to know how other people have experienced the transition to and from EA bubbles with respect to this tension.
If you think a community has a “local kindness gap” that you can fill, and that gap seems to be reducing how well that community is doing at achieving its goals, it’s reasonable to think that being a kind person in that community will end up doing more good than you’d expect to do if you were being kind in a random other community.
That said, there are also downsides to strengthening bubbles, and I’d expect (quick thoughts, haven’t pondered this much) that a “locally kind person with EA inclinations” would be most effective in place that has a small/new EA community, where the marginal value of extra (dinner hosting/event organizing/grabbing coffee with new arrivals) seems higher than in a place where there are already lots of events and chances for new folks to get involved.