I sympathise, but… For 1), if your negative utilitarianism (NU) is a sincerely held, ‘psychologically normal’ belief, I think that you can be a very strong NU and still want to pursue totally ‘normal’ EA goals. For any brand of utilitarianism, greatly reducing or eradicating suffering is a valid and obviously normal goal. Assuming you don’t have the capability for ‘magic annihilation’, there are so many alternatives. Is there a worldview where ‘ending your own suffering’ is higher expected-value than ending factory farming or treating extreme cancer pain in Sub-Saharan Africa? Preventing S-risks is also a productive way for an NU to work on/ think about an EA topic.
While I agree that treating extreme pain is definitely in line with NU, a person struggling with major depression, I believe, usually is quite dubious about their efficacy and potential to achieve such goals. You can’t work on ending factory farming if you can’t even get out of bed, plainly speaking.
I sympathise, but… For 1), if your negative utilitarianism (NU) is a sincerely held, ‘psychologically normal’ belief, I think that you can be a very strong NU and still want to pursue totally ‘normal’ EA goals. For any brand of utilitarianism, greatly reducing or eradicating suffering is a valid and obviously normal goal. Assuming you don’t have the capability for ‘magic annihilation’, there are so many alternatives. Is there a worldview where ‘ending your own suffering’ is higher expected-value than ending factory farming or treating extreme cancer pain in Sub-Saharan Africa? Preventing S-risks is also a productive way for an NU to work on/ think about an EA topic.
While I agree that treating extreme pain is definitely in line with NU, a person struggling with major depression, I believe, usually is quite dubious about their efficacy and potential to achieve such goals. You can’t work on ending factory farming if you can’t even get out of bed, plainly speaking.