Thank you Ivy! I acknowledge that EA may not be for everyone. And I don’t want to make EA popular at any cost. What matters to me is the reason why it might not be for everyone. If someone is just cringing at some unsympathetic social behaviour, or generally disagrees with the ideas, but still feels welcome. I think it is important to maintain the effectiveness mindset while being careful not to become somewhat sociopathic or come across as a robot, but to remain friendly and approachable as a human being.
Regarding the introductory fellowship, we had a very engaged discussion and the reason for their impression was to a large extent a misunderstanding of the idea. And it is this possibility of misunderstanding the idea that I wanted to highlight. If, after such a discussion and clarification, they still don’t really feel that this would be something for them, I have no problem with wishing them well and good luck and letting them go. But I would also say “the door is open, you are welcome to talk to us again if you like”.
I also didn’t want to say “you’re really cold and need to work on your compassion”, I think that would be quite a weird thing to do, honestly. As I tried to mention in the beginning, I feel very lucky to know so many wonderful people in the community. I was just trying to point out risks that I see and the value of these virtues of kindness. So that we don’t lose them along the way, but continue to cultivate them.
Thank you Ivy!
I acknowledge that EA may not be for everyone. And I don’t want to make EA popular at any cost.
What matters to me is the reason why it might not be for everyone. If someone is just cringing at some unsympathetic social behaviour, or generally disagrees with the ideas, but still feels welcome.
I think it is important to maintain the effectiveness mindset while being careful not to become somewhat sociopathic or come across as a robot, but to remain friendly and approachable as a human being.
Regarding the introductory fellowship, we had a very engaged discussion and the reason for their impression was to a large extent a misunderstanding of the idea. And it is this possibility of misunderstanding the idea that I wanted to highlight.
If, after such a discussion and clarification, they still don’t really feel that this would be something for them, I have no problem with wishing them well and good luck and letting them go. But I would also say “the door is open, you are welcome to talk to us again if you like”.
I also didn’t want to say “you’re really cold and need to work on your compassion”, I think that would be quite a weird thing to do, honestly. As I tried to mention in the beginning, I feel very lucky to know so many wonderful people in the community. I was just trying to point out risks that I see and the value of these virtues of kindness. So that we don’t lose them along the way, but continue to cultivate them.