Jeff—I think this is a wonderful idea for a book, and I’d strongly encourage you to do this.
If the focus was on ‘EA for ordinary parents and families’, I think you could reach a lot of people.
In particular, you could offer a lot of solace and reassurance to busy parents that a lot of the the stuff they’ve been told that they should worry about ethically (e.g. recycling, updating gas to electric cars, donating food to local shelters, getting a rescue dog, partisan national politics, etc) doesn’t actually matter very much in the grand scheme, and that there are a lot of much higher-impact things they could be doing that might actually take less time and money.
In other words, for a family to ‘turn EA’ doesn’t necessarily load them with a heavier moral burden; it might actually lighten their moral guilt if they were much more informed and scope-sensitive, and chose their moral battles more wisely.
(Consider just the issue of what to feed a family—if you could explain that if you’re worried about animal suffering, you don’t have to force kids to turn full vegan; even just switching from eating chicken and small fish to eating pastured grass-fed beef could reduce animal suffering very effectively, and they can offset by donating a little bit to Vegan Outreach. This might lead parents to feel much less moral guilt about what they feed their kids—and it might actually reduce animal suffering more than ‘trying to be vegan’ (which often, sadly, involves switching from beef to chicken).
I think an EA perspective could also help families better handle any misplaced eco-guilt they might have about having kids in the first place, ‘contributing to overpopulation’, ‘burdening the planet’, ‘contributing to global warming’, etc. This could get a bit into population ethics, but it doesn’t really need to—it could just involve reassuring parents that kids are future intellectual and moral resources for fighting against climate change and protecting the ecosphere; they’re not just costs imposed on the planet.
In terms of co-authoring with Julia, bear in mind that co-authorship (especially with spouses) doesn’t need to be a 50⁄50 effort; it can involve one author doing 90% of the initial draft, and the other adding their notes, edits, expansions, feedback, and guidance. As long as both people agree they contributed significantly to the book (and their agents, editors, & publishers agree too, which they will), they can both be co-authors. And I think it adds credibility for a married couple to present a book for couples and families.
Jeff—I think this is a wonderful idea for a book, and I’d strongly encourage you to do this.
If the focus was on ‘EA for ordinary parents and families’, I think you could reach a lot of people.
In particular, you could offer a lot of solace and reassurance to busy parents that a lot of the the stuff they’ve been told that they should worry about ethically (e.g. recycling, updating gas to electric cars, donating food to local shelters, getting a rescue dog, partisan national politics, etc) doesn’t actually matter very much in the grand scheme, and that there are a lot of much higher-impact things they could be doing that might actually take less time and money.
In other words, for a family to ‘turn EA’ doesn’t necessarily load them with a heavier moral burden; it might actually lighten their moral guilt if they were much more informed and scope-sensitive, and chose their moral battles more wisely.
(Consider just the issue of what to feed a family—if you could explain that if you’re worried about animal suffering, you don’t have to force kids to turn full vegan; even just switching from eating chicken and small fish to eating pastured grass-fed beef could reduce animal suffering very effectively, and they can offset by donating a little bit to Vegan Outreach. This might lead parents to feel much less moral guilt about what they feed their kids—and it might actually reduce animal suffering more than ‘trying to be vegan’ (which often, sadly, involves switching from beef to chicken).
I think an EA perspective could also help families better handle any misplaced eco-guilt they might have about having kids in the first place, ‘contributing to overpopulation’, ‘burdening the planet’, ‘contributing to global warming’, etc. This could get a bit into population ethics, but it doesn’t really need to—it could just involve reassuring parents that kids are future intellectual and moral resources for fighting against climate change and protecting the ecosphere; they’re not just costs imposed on the planet.
In terms of co-authoring with Julia, bear in mind that co-authorship (especially with spouses) doesn’t need to be a 50⁄50 effort; it can involve one author doing 90% of the initial draft, and the other adding their notes, edits, expansions, feedback, and guidance. As long as both people agree they contributed significantly to the book (and their agents, editors, & publishers agree too, which they will), they can both be co-authors. And I think it adds credibility for a married couple to present a book for couples and families.