That also stresses the importance of untapped potential of local groups outside the main EA hubs.
Yep, I see engaging people & keeping up their motivation in one location as a major contribution of EA groups to the movement!
maybe we have sth like altruistic adaptation, that changes after a significant live event (changing the city, marriage etc.) and then comes back to baseline.
This is an interesting suggestion, though I think it unlikely. It is worth pointing out that most of this discussion is just speculation. The very limited anecdata we have from Joey and others seems too weak to draw detailed conclusions. Anyway: From talking to people who are in their 40s and 50s now, it seems to me that a significant fraction of them were at some point during their youth or at university very engaged in politics and wanted to contribute to ‘changing the world for the better’. However, most of these people have reduced their altruistic engagement over time and have at some point started a family, bought a house etc. and have never come back to their altruistic roots. This common story is what seems to be captured by the saying (that I neither like nor endorse): “If you’re not a socialist at the age of 20 you have no heart. If you’re not a conservative at the age of 40, you have no head”.
More could be done about the vale drift on the structural level, e.g. it might be also explained by the main bottlenecks in the community itself, like the Mid-Tire Trap
This is a valuable and under-discussed point that I endorse!
Thanks for your comment, Karolina!
Yep, I see engaging people & keeping up their motivation in one location as a major contribution of EA groups to the movement!
This is an interesting suggestion, though I think it unlikely. It is worth pointing out that most of this discussion is just speculation. The very limited anecdata we have from Joey and others seems too weak to draw detailed conclusions. Anyway: From talking to people who are in their 40s and 50s now, it seems to me that a significant fraction of them were at some point during their youth or at university very engaged in politics and wanted to contribute to ‘changing the world for the better’. However, most of these people have reduced their altruistic engagement over time and have at some point started a family, bought a house etc. and have never come back to their altruistic roots. This common story is what seems to be captured by the saying (that I neither like nor endorse): “If you’re not a socialist at the age of 20 you have no heart. If you’re not a conservative at the age of 40, you have no head”.
This is a valuable and under-discussed point that I endorse!