I believe that honesty and acting according to your values is more important. If your value is EU maximization, then your actions and opinion should reflect that. I didn’t appreciate that I learned veganism through EA only to discover that it may be an order of magnitude less effective than animal welfare donations. I think EAs should also not forget they need to signal to each other. I think many EAs have been given the message “go vegan to reduce suffering,” but not “animal welfare is the most effective way to help animals.”
Sorry! I’ve edited my comment to make it clearer that I’m trying to say that suffering caused by eating meat is not the only factor you should weigh in estimating expected utility.
(For what it’s worth I do still think it’s likely that, taking these other benefits into account and assuming you think society is seriously undervaluing the moral worth of animals, veganism still doesn’t make sense as a matter of maximizing utility.)
Maximization is not as simple as choosing the single action the produces the most benefit; actions are not necessary exclusive. If I go to the grocery store, I don’t only by beans because I think they have the highest nutritional value per dollar. I buy other things too, and need to be because beans alone are insufficient. One can donate to animal welfare charities and be vegan; those aren’t exclusive.
I believe that honesty and acting according to your values is more important. If your value is EU maximization, then your actions and opinion should reflect that. I didn’t appreciate that I learned veganism through EA only to discover that it may be an order of magnitude less effective than animal welfare donations. I think EAs should also not forget they need to signal to each other. I think many EAs have been given the message “go vegan to reduce suffering,” but not “animal welfare is the most effective way to help animals.”
Sorry! I’ve edited my comment to make it clearer that I’m trying to say that suffering caused by eating meat is not the only factor you should weigh in estimating expected utility.
(For what it’s worth I do still think it’s likely that, taking these other benefits into account and assuming you think society is seriously undervaluing the moral worth of animals, veganism still doesn’t make sense as a matter of maximizing utility.)
Maximization is not as simple as choosing the single action the produces the most benefit; actions are not necessary exclusive. If I go to the grocery store, I don’t only by beans because I think they have the highest nutritional value per dollar. I buy other things too, and need to be because beans alone are insufficient. One can donate to animal welfare charities and be vegan; those aren’t exclusive.
Im confused what other goal there is beside the maximization of expected utility.
As for being exclusive, I argue that effort needs to be prioritized according to importance.