What I’m hearing in this article is “some people lock in their view of what the best way to improve the world is while they’re still in middle school and don’t update after that.” I agree that’s a problem! Encouraging people to consider a variety of careers that could help people and think about what evidence might change their mind definitely seems helpful.
Something this post doesn’t acknowledge, but I think is really important, is that doing good isn’t the only goal in most people’s career choice! Most people want a career that they enjoy and are good at, that pays well and is respected by their family and friends. There can be lots of other more individual factors too.
When I mention my career in EA circles, people often assume that I think my career is the best way to improve the world, without taking my own happiness or any other factors into account. They’ll ask questions like, “How did you decide that policy work was the best way for you to do good?” It’s often less awkward to just talk about how my job allows me to do good than to talk about how much fun I have working with clever people to make important decisions, how I’ve been interested in policy since I was a kid, how much I value a stable salary with a generous pension, or the great pay during parental leave.
I wonder if that’s sometimes happening in these circles. Maybe your friend who wanted to be a scientist really was 100% interested in improving the world and was frustrated you couldn’t see his point of view, but maybe he was just really excited about being a scientist for personal reasons and felt like you were implying he’s a bad person for not being willing to give up his life’s dream after attending a couple of seminars. I wouldn’t be too quick to assume which situation is going on here, and I’d really encourage you when having these conversations to emphasize that people have more than one goal and that’s fine.
What I’m hearing in this article is “some people lock in their view of what the best way to improve the world is while they’re still in middle school and don’t update after that.” I agree that’s a problem! Encouraging people to consider a variety of careers that could help people and think about what evidence might change their mind definitely seems helpful.
Something this post doesn’t acknowledge, but I think is really important, is that doing good isn’t the only goal in most people’s career choice! Most people want a career that they enjoy and are good at, that pays well and is respected by their family and friends. There can be lots of other more individual factors too.
When I mention my career in EA circles, people often assume that I think my career is the best way to improve the world, without taking my own happiness or any other factors into account. They’ll ask questions like, “How did you decide that policy work was the best way for you to do good?” It’s often less awkward to just talk about how my job allows me to do good than to talk about how much fun I have working with clever people to make important decisions, how I’ve been interested in policy since I was a kid, how much I value a stable salary with a generous pension, or the great pay during parental leave.
I wonder if that’s sometimes happening in these circles. Maybe your friend who wanted to be a scientist really was 100% interested in improving the world and was frustrated you couldn’t see his point of view, but maybe he was just really excited about being a scientist for personal reasons and felt like you were implying he’s a bad person for not being willing to give up his life’s dream after attending a couple of seminars. I wouldn’t be too quick to assume which situation is going on here, and I’d really encourage you when having these conversations to emphasize that people have more than one goal and that’s fine.