A sense of belonging seems nice, but maybe it’s a nice to have, like extra leg room on flights or not working on weekends. Fun, but not necessary if you care about having an impact.
I think my take is that for most people, myself included, it’s a necessity. Pursuing world optimisation is only really possible with a basis of belonging.
Here’s a nice image from Brene Brown’s book which I’ve lightly edited for clarity.
I think the EA community provides some sense of belonging, but probably not enough to properly keep people going. Things can then get a bit complicated, with EA being a community built around world optimisation.
If people have a not-quite-fully-met need to belong, and the EA community is one of their main sources of a sense of belonging, they’ll feel more pressure to fit in with the EA community—eg. by drinking the same food, espousing the same beliefs, talking in the same way etc.
Is belonging effective?
A sense of belonging seems nice, but maybe it’s a nice to have, like extra leg room on flights or not working on weekends. Fun, but not necessary if you care about having an impact.
I think my take is that for most people, myself included, it’s a necessity. Pursuing world optimisation is only really possible with a basis of belonging.
Here’s a nice image from Brene Brown’s book which I’ve lightly edited for clarity.
I think the EA community provides some sense of belonging, but probably not enough to properly keep people going. Things can then get a bit complicated, with EA being a community built around world optimisation.
If people have a not-quite-fully-met need to belong, and the EA community is one of their main sources of a sense of belonging, they’ll feel more pressure to fit in with the EA community—eg. by drinking the same food, espousing the same beliefs, talking in the same way etc.