I agree, but the situation here is a bit more complex. Michael’s telling a story about someone who was emotionally invested in the problem of improving mental health among EAs, but then “suddenly switched to sceptical mode” as soon as the conversation turned to helping people who were more distant. While in skeptical mode, this person (in Michael’s telling) appeared to be relying on the intellectual judgments of more proximate people in the EA community rather than connecting emotionally to the subjective experience of the more distant people, whether we are talking about malaria or depression. The point is about people selectively choosing to apply “sceptical mode” based on the context.
I agree, but the situation here is a bit more complex. Michael’s telling a story about someone who was emotionally invested in the problem of improving mental health among EAs, but then “suddenly switched to sceptical mode” as soon as the conversation turned to helping people who were more distant. While in skeptical mode, this person (in Michael’s telling) appeared to be relying on the intellectual judgments of more proximate people in the EA community rather than connecting emotionally to the subjective experience of the more distant people, whether we are talking about malaria or depression. The point is about people selectively choosing to apply “sceptical mode” based on the context.