The reason of thinking up this question (This is not directly related to the question so I put in common section here):
I’m currently an 18-year-old guy that’s having hard time between double majoring on medicine and CS(computer science) and single major on CS.
One advantage of medicine is its high salary. In fact my parents think it’s necessary to save retirement funds for like one million dollars, so they strongly advice me to do double major in medicine. Before, I thought: Is there need for retirement fund? I work for EA till my body can’t physically afford, and after that, I think I can suicide. Because if you can’t work anymore, what’s the meaning of living? However, there’s a flaw of this thinking, which is my question talking about.
Many of us have found our goals and desires shift a lot over time. I think there are some commitments flexible enough to be a good idea (like I’m happy I took the 10% pledge), while others lock you in in ways that won’t be good for your long-term impact. My own sense of the best ways to have impact has changed a lot over time. This is also true for many others in the community.
Aside from other things that people value after retiring, there are forms of mentorship and contribution that can last long after you’re no longer doing a standard workweek. Peter Singer is 79 and retired as a university professor but still seems to have a busy speaking and writing schedule. The closing speaker at EAG Boston 2023 was then-93-year-old geneticist Matthew Meselson, speaking about his work preventing biowarfare and about preventing future pandemics.
I agree with Denkenberger that there’s a lot of uncertainty about what life will look like in a few decades, including uncertainty about any given career, if careers will even be a thing, if money will be less useful or more useful, etc.
Being pulled between your parents’ wishes and your own is always tough! Wishing you the best in your decisions.
@Julia_Wise🔸 There are lots of reasons that living can have meaning even without work. In fact, there’s a book about that. Having some savings is very valuable to give you the flexibility of switching careers or for unforeseen circumstances. Also, it may be very valuable if there is a good AI outcome. But I do think that the possibility of transformative AI means we should save less for retirement.
The reason of thinking up this question (This is not directly related to the question so I put in common section here):
I’m currently an 18-year-old guy that’s having hard time between double majoring on medicine and CS(computer science) and single major on CS.
One advantage of medicine is its high salary. In fact my parents think it’s necessary to save retirement funds for like one million dollars, so they strongly advice me to do double major in medicine. Before, I thought: Is there need for retirement fund? I work for EA till my body can’t physically afford, and after that, I think I can suicide. Because if you can’t work anymore, what’s the meaning of living? However, there’s a flaw of this thinking, which is my question talking about.
Many of us have found our goals and desires shift a lot over time. I think there are some commitments flexible enough to be a good idea (like I’m happy I took the 10% pledge), while others lock you in in ways that won’t be good for your long-term impact. My own sense of the best ways to have impact has changed a lot over time. This is also true for many others in the community.
Aside from other things that people value after retiring, there are forms of mentorship and contribution that can last long after you’re no longer doing a standard workweek. Peter Singer is 79 and retired as a university professor but still seems to have a busy speaking and writing schedule. The closing speaker at EAG Boston 2023 was then-93-year-old geneticist Matthew Meselson, speaking about his work preventing biowarfare and about preventing future pandemics.
I agree with Denkenberger that there’s a lot of uncertainty about what life will look like in a few decades, including uncertainty about any given career, if careers will even be a thing, if money will be less useful or more useful, etc.
Being pulled between your parents’ wishes and your own is always tough! Wishing you the best in your decisions.
@Julia_Wise🔸 There are lots of reasons that living can have meaning even without work. In fact, there’s a book about that. Having some savings is very valuable to give you the flexibility of switching careers or for unforeseen circumstances. Also, it may be very valuable if there is a good AI outcome. But I do think that the possibility of transformative AI means we should save less for retirement.