What I like about EA (other than the aim to find ways to help others better, and putting them into practice)
Since I‘ve got into EA, I‘ve struggled accepting some of the EA premises, their implications and also social norms in the community. I‘ve come back from EAG Conferences completely exhausted and really pessimistic about EA, and considered „quitting“.However, over the last months (maybe the last year) I‘ve discovered that there are a few things which I like about EA, that are not part of the baseline philosophy.
Acknowledging these has helped me to interact with EA and longtermism more and made me feel less stressed when doing so. Funny enough, I‘m also less defensive when I see unfaithful criticisms of EA, because I genuinely know better why I like the community.
What I like about EA:
Openness about uncertainty, to the extent that it is a norm to communicate epistemic status and uncertainty clearly
Related: Beliefs are stated and questioned publicly, and despite it feeling a bit like a „sect“ sometimes, in reality it is pretty low-threshold to provide constructive criticism/feedback which may lead to change (even in pretty fundamental beliefs)
Very solution-oriented thinking (which I sometimes lack in e.g. Social Sciences academia-adjacent circles)
Lots of EAs are very approachable and nice
Although there are some creeps, EA events made me (identifying and being read as a woman) feel very safe (shoutout to the EAGxBerlin Rave afterparty)
This list is not exhaustive and I‘ve written it in about 15 minutes. These are not my main motivation to be interested in EA, but definitely helped me feel part of the community.
What I like about EA (other than the aim to find ways to help others better, and putting them into practice)
Since I‘ve got into EA, I‘ve struggled accepting some of the EA premises, their implications and also social norms in the community. I‘ve come back from EAG Conferences completely exhausted and really pessimistic about EA, and considered „quitting“.However, over the last months (maybe the last year) I‘ve discovered that there are a few things which I like about EA, that are not part of the baseline philosophy.
Acknowledging these has helped me to interact with EA and longtermism more and made me feel less stressed when doing so. Funny enough, I‘m also less defensive when I see unfaithful criticisms of EA, because I genuinely know better why I like the community.
What I like about EA:
Openness about uncertainty, to the extent that it is a norm to communicate epistemic status and uncertainty clearly
Related: Beliefs are stated and questioned publicly, and despite it feeling a bit like a „sect“ sometimes, in reality it is pretty low-threshold to provide constructive criticism/feedback which may lead to change (even in pretty fundamental beliefs)
Very solution-oriented thinking (which I sometimes lack in e.g. Social Sciences academia-adjacent circles)
Lots of EAs are very approachable and nice
Although there are some creeps, EA events made me (identifying and being read as a woman) feel very safe (shoutout to the EAGxBerlin Rave afterparty)
This list is not exhaustive and I‘ve written it in about 15 minutes. These are not my main motivation to be interested in EA, but definitely helped me feel part of the community.
I might make an opposite list at one point.