This was a really interesting read. I had some thoughts reading this bit: “surrounding oneself with people who are trying to do good in some way or another could help avoid value drift.”
Specifically it strikes me that there may be a trade-off between preventing value-drift and spreading EA. Hanging out in groups without EA people, and having friends in those groups, is a great way to spread EA values (much in the same way I see families where one person becomes vegetarian / vegan quickly end up with more vegetarians / vegans). So I think it’s important to be careful about insulating EAs too much lest EA ideas spread less quickly. That said, spending time with others trying to good in some way (not necessarily EA) is probably optimal for balancing these two concerns.
Thanks! I absolutely agree. I don’t think that EAs should surround themselves with only EAs in the name of preventing value drift (this seems borderline cult-like to me), but I think having people in one’s social circle who care about doing good, regardless of whether in the EA sense or not, seems like a good idea, for the reason you mentioned, and because I think there are things EAs can learn from non-EAs about doing good in the world.
(Also, non-EAs can make good friends regardless of their ability to contribute to your impact or not. :) )
This was a really interesting read. I had some thoughts reading this bit: “surrounding oneself with people who are trying to do good in some way or another could help avoid value drift.”
Specifically it strikes me that there may be a trade-off between preventing value-drift and spreading EA. Hanging out in groups without EA people, and having friends in those groups, is a great way to spread EA values (much in the same way I see families where one person becomes vegetarian / vegan quickly end up with more vegetarians / vegans). So I think it’s important to be careful about insulating EAs too much lest EA ideas spread less quickly. That said, spending time with others trying to good in some way (not necessarily EA) is probably optimal for balancing these two concerns.
Thanks! I absolutely agree. I don’t think that EAs should surround themselves with only EAs in the name of preventing value drift (this seems borderline cult-like to me), but I think having people in one’s social circle who care about doing good, regardless of whether in the EA sense or not, seems like a good idea, for the reason you mentioned, and because I think there are things EAs can learn from non-EAs about doing good in the world.
(Also, non-EAs can make good friends regardless of their ability to contribute to your impact or not. :) )