But I would reorient my career to work on the most pressing challenges confronting humanity given my current/accessible skill set. I quit my job as a web developer, I’m going back to university for graduate study and plan to work on AI safety and digital minds.
I think this is very admirable and wish you success! If indeed you’re acting exactly like someone who straightforwardly wanted to improve the world altruistically, that’s what matters :)
Edit: oh I see you were also donating 10%, that’s also very altruistic! (At least from an outside view, I trust you on your motivations)
I think I’ve been defining “altruism” in an overly strict sense.
Rather than say I’m not altruistic, I mostly mean that:
I’m not impartial to my own welfare/wellbeing/flourishing
I’m much less willing to undertake personal hardship (frugality, donating the majority of my income, etc.) and I think this is fine
10% is not that big an ask (I can sacrifice that much personal comfort), but donating 50% or forgoing significant material comfort would be steps I would be unwilling to take.
(Reorienting my career doesn’t feel like a sacrifice because I’ll be able to have a larger positive impact through the career switch.)
Rather than say I’m not altruistic, I mostly mean that: *I’m not impartial to my own welfare/wellbeing/flourishing
To me, those are very different claims!
10% is not that big an ask (I can sacrifice that much personal comfort)
That’s very relative! It’s more than what the median EA gives, it’s way more than what the median non-EA gives. When I talk to non-EA friends/relatives about giving, the thought of giving any% is seen as unimaginably altruistic.
Even people donating 50% are not donating 80%, and some would say it’s not that big of an ask. IMHO, claiming that only people making huge sacrifices and valuing their own wellbeing at 0 can be considered “altruists” is a very strong claim that doesn’t match how the word is used in practice.
I now think it was a mistake/misunderstanding to describe myself as non altruistic and believe that I was using an unusually high standard.
(That said, when I started the 10% thing, I did so under the impression that it was what the sacrifice I needed to make to gain acceptance in EA. Churches advocate a 10% tithe as well [which I didn’t pay because I wasn’t actually a Christian (I deconverted at 17 and open atheism is not safe, so I’ve hidden [and still hide] it)], but it did make me predisposed to putting up with that level of sacrifice [I’d faced a lot of social pressure to pay tithes at home, and I think I gave in once].
The 10% felt painful at first, but I eventually got used to it, and it became a source of pride. I could brag about how I was making the world a better place even with my meagre income.)
“That said, when I started the 10% thing, I did so under the impression that it was what the sacrifice I needed to make to gain acceptance in EA”
If this sentiment is at all widespread among people on the periphery of EA or who might become EA at some point, then I find that VERY concerning. We’d lose a lot of great people if everyone assumed they couldn’t join without making that kind of sacrifice.
I think this is very admirable and wish you success!
If indeed you’re acting exactly like someone who straightforwardly wanted to improve the world altruistically, that’s what matters :)
Edit: oh I see you were also donating 10%, that’s also very altruistic! (At least from an outside view, I trust you on your motivations)
I think I’ve been defining “altruism” in an overly strict sense.
Rather than say I’m not altruistic, I mostly mean that:
I’m not impartial to my own welfare/wellbeing/flourishing
I’m much less willing to undertake personal hardship (frugality, donating the majority of my income, etc.) and I think this is fine
10% is not that big an ask (I can sacrifice that much personal comfort), but donating 50% or forgoing significant material comfort would be steps I would be unwilling to take.
(Reorienting my career doesn’t feel like a sacrifice because I’ll be able to have a larger positive impact through the career switch.)
To me, those are very different claims!
That’s very relative! It’s more than what the median EA gives, it’s way more than what the median non-EA gives. When I talk to non-EA friends/relatives about giving, the thought of giving any% is seen as unimaginably altruistic.
Even people donating 50% are not donating 80%, and some would say it’s not that big of an ask.
IMHO, claiming that only people making huge sacrifices and valuing their own wellbeing at 0 can be considered “altruists” is a very strong claim that doesn’t match how the word is used in practice.
As Wikipedia says:
I now think it was a mistake/misunderstanding to describe myself as non altruistic and believe that I was using an unusually high standard.
(That said, when I started the 10% thing, I did so under the impression that it was what the sacrifice I needed to make to gain acceptance in EA. Churches advocate a 10% tithe as well [which I didn’t pay because I wasn’t actually a Christian (I deconverted at 17 and open atheism is not safe, so I’ve hidden [and still hide] it)], but it did make me predisposed to putting up with that level of sacrifice [I’d faced a lot of social pressure to pay tithes at home, and I think I gave in once].
The 10% felt painful at first, but I eventually got used to it, and it became a source of pride. I could brag about how I was making the world a better place even with my meagre income.)
“That said, when I started the 10% thing, I did so under the impression that it was what the sacrifice I needed to make to gain acceptance in EA”
If this sentiment is at all widespread among people on the periphery of EA or who might become EA at some point, then I find that VERY concerning. We’d lose a lot of great people if everyone assumed they couldn’t join without making that kind of sacrifice.