Could Intentional Living (as a cause area) be an EA Blind Spot?

Epistemic status: talking out of my ass

  • Improving QALYs in developed nations isn’t a big priority for EA

  • With bednets at $5 a pop this makes sense

  • But loneliness, anxiety and depression are some of the biggest drivers of low well being in developed nations

    • Parenting is really hard and isolating. Most EAs aren’t parents; this could be driving the blind spot

  • Setting up communal living situations is very expensive (time consuming, and financial investment is high) but it still might have have an enormous return on investment. I think it could be effective at addressing many of the above issues.

TBH I have very short timelines (~ 7 − 15 years), and think if we survive AGI then this will ‘be sorted’ anyway.

But in the event that doesn’t happen, I think it is worth considering as an EA cause area.

Thoughts?

https://​​www.nytimes.com/​​2023/​​06/​​09/​​opinion/​​ezra-klein-kristen-ghodsee.html

https://​​en.wikipedia.org/​​wiki/​​Intentional_living