Thank you for this—as someone who lives with my wife and kids on the other side of the world from the “optimal” place to live, around the corner from the grandparents and cousins, I very much appreciate people raising the flag for this being an acceptable choice in the community.
That said, I think there’s another aspect that is worth flagging; the implicit expectation that the commitment for EA is utilitarian, and so you won’t have your own priorities other than the minimum needed to keep yourself happy and motivated, or if not, at least the (mistaken) interpretation of “giving 10%” where it means you are supposed to do at least 10% as much good as you can possibly do. I have said repeatedly in the past that this is unhealthy as a community norm, and we should normalize people prioritizing other things, alongside their commitment to EA. (And it’s very clear to me that the community has not always done this well in the past!)
Hi David, if I’ve understood you correctly, I agree that a reason to return home as for other priorities that have nothing to do with impact. I personally did not return home for the extra happiness or motivation required to stay productive, but because I valued these other things intrinsically, which Julia articulates better here: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/zu28unKfTHoxRWpGn/you-have-more-than-one-goal-and-that-s-fine
Thank you for this—as someone who lives with my wife and kids on the other side of the world from the “optimal” place to live, around the corner from the grandparents and cousins, I very much appreciate people raising the flag for this being an acceptable choice in the community.
That said, I think there’s another aspect that is worth flagging; the implicit expectation that the commitment for EA is utilitarian, and so you won’t have your own priorities other than the minimum needed to keep yourself happy and motivated, or if not, at least the (mistaken) interpretation of “giving 10%” where it means you are supposed to do at least 10% as much good as you can possibly do. I have said repeatedly in the past that this is unhealthy as a community norm, and we should normalize people prioritizing other things, alongside their commitment to EA. (And it’s very clear to me that the community has not always done this well in the past!)
Hi David, if I’ve understood you correctly, I agree that a reason to return home as for other priorities that have nothing to do with impact. I personally did not return home for the extra happiness or motivation required to stay productive, but because I valued these other things intrinsically, which Julia articulates better here: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/zu28unKfTHoxRWpGn/you-have-more-than-one-goal-and-that-s-fine