A few years ago I had very different priorities, pursuing them was not making me happy, and I guess at some point I correctly realized that I’d be much happier focusing on altruism instead.
I really crave creative stimulation and I see my engagement with altruism as a creative pursuit. I have many creative interests but I expect my interest in altruism to be more stable over time and more socially reinforced, so it gets priority. (That’s my narrative, at least)
I do experience a sense of disgust / antipathy towards what I see as complacency, or failing to engage the world creatively. This isn’t necessarily related to altruism but usually I see disinterest in altruism as symptomatic of the kind of complacency that I loathe.
I really enjoy maximizing / trying to be good at something, so that’s a big part of where focus on effectiveness comes in. Strategizing is the fun part of altruism for me.
I am very sensitive to the idea of being manipulated or pressed into conformity, and disgusted when I view people as falling victim to this. For this reason I am skeptical of many memes about what altruistic behavior should look like, and prefer a “rational” approach that is harder to manipulate.
I do experience feelings of injustice with respect to stuff like immigration policy, but I don’t prioritize responding to those feelings, maybe because I see them as easy to manipulate or whatever.
There is virtually no sensation of empathy involved. There is also no sensation of guilt, but there is a sense of frustration when I feel that I am failing to actualize my values.
Edit: After reading some other comments, I’ll add that I guess I do feel good about being nice to people close to me, and altruism does generate a similar feeling. I’m hesitant to call this empathy because it’s not true that I feel bad about the suffering of distant people, I just feel good about helping.
A few years ago I had very different priorities, pursuing them was not making me happy, and I guess at some point I correctly realized that I’d be much happier focusing on altruism instead.
I really crave creative stimulation and I see my engagement with altruism as a creative pursuit. I have many creative interests but I expect my interest in altruism to be more stable over time and more socially reinforced, so it gets priority. (That’s my narrative, at least)
I do experience a sense of disgust / antipathy towards what I see as complacency, or failing to engage the world creatively. This isn’t necessarily related to altruism but usually I see disinterest in altruism as symptomatic of the kind of complacency that I loathe.
I really enjoy maximizing / trying to be good at something, so that’s a big part of where focus on effectiveness comes in. Strategizing is the fun part of altruism for me.
I am very sensitive to the idea of being manipulated or pressed into conformity, and disgusted when I view people as falling victim to this. For this reason I am skeptical of many memes about what altruistic behavior should look like, and prefer a “rational” approach that is harder to manipulate.
I do experience feelings of injustice with respect to stuff like immigration policy, but I don’t prioritize responding to those feelings, maybe because I see them as easy to manipulate or whatever.
There is virtually no sensation of empathy involved. There is also no sensation of guilt, but there is a sense of frustration when I feel that I am failing to actualize my values.
Edit: After reading some other comments, I’ll add that I guess I do feel good about being nice to people close to me, and altruism does generate a similar feeling. I’m hesitant to call this empathy because it’s not true that I feel bad about the suffering of distant people, I just feel good about helping.