One thing I started recently is collecting instances of people acting altruistic and courageous and reading about these when I need motivation (their Wikipedia articles or a text I wrote myself etc.). These examples can go from very small acts to big ones. Reading about actual examples of people standing up to the social norms or laws of their time to do the right thing gives me a lot of motivation to keep pursuing an altruistic path even in the face of difficulty. One example I came across recently is a farther who supported his daughter when she refused to marry a man who raped her (a so called “rehabilitating marriage” which was the custom (and law!) in mid 20th century Sicily). He did so although their town ostracised them and even burned down their farm.
Also there is a good amount of great blog posts which I find really motivating. The ones I can think of from the top of my head are:
Thanks a lot for writing this.
One thing I started recently is collecting instances of people acting altruistic and courageous and reading about these when I need motivation (their Wikipedia articles or a text I wrote myself etc.). These examples can go from very small acts to big ones. Reading about actual examples of people standing up to the social norms or laws of their time to do the right thing gives me a lot of motivation to keep pursuing an altruistic path even in the face of difficulty. One example I came across recently is a farther who supported his daughter when she refused to marry a man who raped her (a so called “rehabilitating marriage” which was the custom (and law!) in mid 20th century Sicily). He did so although their town ostracised them and even burned down their farm.
Also there is a good amount of great blog posts which I find really motivating. The ones I can think of from the top of my head are:
Happy Smallpox eradication day (500 Million but not a single one more)
Happy Stanislav Petrov day (What almost was)
Happy Stanislav Petrov day (There is a button)
The enemy might not have a face but you still have to fight him
Secular Solstice Eve Speech: Stories
On Caring