Do you worry at all about a bait-and-switch experience that new people might have?
I would hope that people wouldn’t feel this way. I think neartermism is a great on-ramp to EA, but I don’t think it has to be an on-ramp to longtermism. That is, if someone joins EA out of an interest in neartermism, learns about longtermism but isn’t persuaded, and continues to work on EA-aligned neartermist stuff, I think that would be a great outcome.
Hi Ann,
Some quibbles with your book list. Animal Liberation came out in 1975, not 2001.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29380.Animal_Liberation
You overlooked Scout Mindset, which came out in 2021.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42041926-the-scout-mindset
Also,
>Essentially, neartermist causes served as an on-ramp to EA (and to longtermism). Getting rid of that on-ramp seems like a bad idea.
Do you worry at all about a bait-and-switch experience that new people might have?
I think we could mitigate this by promoting global health & wellbeing and longtermism as equal pillars of EA, depending on the audience.
I would hope that people wouldn’t feel this way. I think neartermism is a great on-ramp to EA, but I don’t think it has to be an on-ramp to longtermism. That is, if someone joins EA out of an interest in neartermism, learns about longtermism but isn’t persuaded, and continues to work on EA-aligned neartermist stuff, I think that would be a great outcome.
And thank you for the fact-checking on the books!