My mental health has greatly improved since joining EA and I think that’s because:
the culture encourages having an internal locus of control (or being agentic) which is associated with better mental health outcomes
it faced me with the reality that I’m incredibly privileged in global terms so I should be using that to help others rather than feeling sorry for myself
helping others is intrinsically satisfying
I do think there’s more that could be done to develop psychological safety and remind people that their intrinsic value is separate from their instrumental value to the EA movement.
This is why I do community building work.
Idk I’m not a maximiser but I do think it’s useful to have barriers to entry that require strong signals of shared values. I’m not interested in running a social club for privileged people that aren’t actually contributing money and/or labour into EA causes.
I think most EAs living in rich countries should by default be working normal jobs while donating 10% and contributing to EA projects on the side. That does help calibrate with the wider world.
Agree with this take ⬆️
My mental health has greatly improved since joining EA and I think that’s because:
the culture encourages having an internal locus of control (or being agentic) which is associated with better mental health outcomes
it faced me with the reality that I’m incredibly privileged in global terms so I should be using that to help others rather than feeling sorry for myself
helping others is intrinsically satisfying
I do think there’s more that could be done to develop psychological safety and remind people that their intrinsic value is separate from their instrumental value to the EA movement.
This is why I do community building work.
Idk I’m not a maximiser but I do think it’s useful to have barriers to entry that require strong signals of shared values. I’m not interested in running a social club for privileged people that aren’t actually contributing money and/or labour into EA causes.
I think most EAs living in rich countries should by default be working normal jobs while donating 10% and contributing to EA projects on the side. That does help calibrate with the wider world.