I guess my issue is that this all seems strictly worse than “pledge to give 10% for the first 1-2 years after graduation, and then decide whether to commit for life”. Even “you commit for life, but with the option to withdraw 1-2 years after graduation”, ie with the default to continue. Your arguments about not getting used to a full salary apply just as well to those imo
More broadly, I think it’s bad to justify getting young people without much life experience to make a lifetime pledge, based on a controversial belief (that it should be normal to give 10%), by saying that you personally believe that belief is true. In this specific case I agree with your belief! I took the pledge (shortly after graduating I think). But there are all kinds of beliefs I disagree with that I do not want people using here. Lots of young people make choices that they regret later—I’m not saying they should be stopped from making these choices, but it’s bad to encourage them. I agree with Buck, at least to the extent of saying that undergrads who’ve been in EA for less than a year should not be encouraged to sign a lifetime pledge.
(On a meta level, the pledge can obviously be broken if someone really regrets it, it’s not legally binding. But I think arguments shouldn’t rely on the pledge being breakable)
I guess my issue is that this all seems strictly worse than “pledge to give 10% for the first 1-2 years after graduation, and then decide whether to commit for life”. Even “you commit for life, but with the option to withdraw 1-2 years after graduation”, ie with the default to continue. Your arguments about not getting used to a full salary apply just as well to those imo
More broadly, I think it’s bad to justify getting young people without much life experience to make a lifetime pledge, based on a controversial belief (that it should be normal to give 10%), by saying that you personally believe that belief is true. In this specific case I agree with your belief! I took the pledge (shortly after graduating I think). But there are all kinds of beliefs I disagree with that I do not want people using here. Lots of young people make choices that they regret later—I’m not saying they should be stopped from making these choices, but it’s bad to encourage them. I agree with Buck, at least to the extent of saying that undergrads who’ve been in EA for less than a year should not be encouraged to sign a lifetime pledge.
(On a meta level, the pledge can obviously be broken if someone really regrets it, it’s not legally binding. But I think arguments shouldn’t rely on the pledge being breakable)