I actually found this article surprisingly useful/uplifting, and I suspect reorienting my feelings towards this approach is both more impactful and more emotionally healthy for me. I think recently (especially in the last month), I was getting pretty whiny/upset about the ways in which the world feels unfair to me, in mostly not-helpful ways.
I know that a lot of the apparent unfairness is due to personal choices that I on reflection endorse (though am not necessarily in-the-moment happy about). However, I suspect there’s something true and important about acknowledging that while my negative feelings matter, ultimately they’re necessary side-products/an afterthought compared to the overwhelming importance of doing good work.
The world is broken, and somebody has to fix it. That was my take many years ago when I first read Peter Singer, and earlier. That should always be the central purpose, and I think I lost some of that perspective in recent months and got stuck too much on specific details, both in my work and in my life. E.g. overly specific accounting of whether EA was selfishly good for me. It’s healthier to take a step back and just “face it,” and take responsibility for my choices, as frustrating as they may be and as easy it is to explain/hide/blame my problems away with external factors.
I actually found this article surprisingly useful/uplifting, and I suspect reorienting my feelings towards this approach is both more impactful and more emotionally healthy for me. I think recently (especially in the last month), I was getting pretty whiny/upset about the ways in which the world feels unfair to me, in mostly not-helpful ways.
I know that a lot of the apparent unfairness is due to personal choices that I on reflection endorse (though am not necessarily in-the-moment happy about). However, I suspect there’s something true and important about acknowledging that while my negative feelings matter, ultimately they’re necessary side-products/an afterthought compared to the overwhelming importance of doing good work.
The world is broken, and somebody has to fix it. That was my take many years ago when I first read Peter Singer, and earlier. That should always be the central purpose, and I think I lost some of that perspective in recent months and got stuck too much on specific details, both in my work and in my life. E.g. overly specific accounting of whether EA was selfishly good for me. It’s healthier to take a step back and just “face it,” and take responsibility for my choices, as frustrating as they may be and as easy it is to explain/hide/blame my problems away with external factors.