One data point to add in support: I once spoke to a relatively new EA who was part of a uni group who said they “should” believe that longtermism/AI safety is the top cause, but when I asked them what their actual prio was said it was mental health.
By “their actual prio”, which of these do you think they meant (if any)?
The area where they could personally do the most good with their work
The area that should absorb the highest fraction of EA-interested people, because it has the most strong opportunities to do good
The area they personally cared most about, to the point where it would feel wrong to answer otherwise (even if they technically thought they could do more good in other areas)
I’ve sometimes had three different areas in mind for these three categories, and have struggled to talk about my own priorities as a result.
A combination of one and three, but hard to say exactly the boundaries. E.g. I think they thought it was the best cause area for themselves (and maybe people in their country) but not everyone globally or something.
I think they may not have really thought about two in-depth, because of the feeling that they “should” care about one and prioritize it, and appeared somewhat guilty or hesitant to share their actual views because they thought they would be judged. They mentioned having spoken to a bunch of others and feeling like that was what everyone else was saying.
It’s possible they did think two though (it was a few years ago, so I’m not sure).
One data point to add in support: I once spoke to a relatively new EA who was part of a uni group who said they “should” believe that longtermism/AI safety is the top cause, but when I asked them what their actual prio was said it was mental health.
By “their actual prio”, which of these do you think they meant (if any)?
The area where they could personally do the most good with their work
The area that should absorb the highest fraction of EA-interested people, because it has the most strong opportunities to do good
The area they personally cared most about, to the point where it would feel wrong to answer otherwise (even if they technically thought they could do more good in other areas)
I’ve sometimes had three different areas in mind for these three categories, and have struggled to talk about my own priorities as a result.
A combination of one and three, but hard to say exactly the boundaries. E.g. I think they thought it was the best cause area for themselves (and maybe people in their country) but not everyone globally or something.
I think they may not have really thought about two in-depth, because of the feeling that they “should” care about one and prioritize it, and appeared somewhat guilty or hesitant to share their actual views because they thought they would be judged. They mentioned having spoken to a bunch of others and feeling like that was what everyone else was saying.
It’s possible they did think two though (it was a few years ago, so I’m not sure).