Thank you for writing this, Michelle. It’s so inspiring to see.
I agree with your sentiment that EA can be a demanding, onerous philosophy at times. It’s really heartening to hear that there are so many people who join the movement despite its demandingness.
In my eyes, EA is such a tremendous opportunity—a genuine gift—that I’ve stopped thinking of it over the past year as something that we ought to do, but as something we get to do.
I definitely feel lucky to be at such a fortunate time in history when absolute poverty is so much lower than it has been over the millennia past, and when we have the chance for so much less suffering and more happiness than ever before. I also really appreciate being part of the EA community. This year’s isolation has really brought home to me how much it means to me to be surrounded every day by kind people working for the same goal.
I’m less sure of the specific framing of ‘EA as an opportunity’, because so much of EA is about preventing suffering or destruction. Without those being a possibility, we wouldn’t be able to work to prevent them. But I wouldn’t want to imply that their possibility is a good thing. So I guess I might rather say that, given the state of the world, being part of this community feels like a true gift.
Thank you for writing this, Michelle. It’s so inspiring to see.
I agree with your sentiment that EA can be a demanding, onerous philosophy at times. It’s really heartening to hear that there are so many people who join the movement despite its demandingness.
In my eyes, EA is such a tremendous opportunity—a genuine gift—that I’ve stopped thinking of it over the past year as something that we ought to do, but as something we get to do.
I’d be curious to hear if you feel similarly!
I definitely feel lucky to be at such a fortunate time in history when absolute poverty is so much lower than it has been over the millennia past, and when we have the chance for so much less suffering and more happiness than ever before. I also really appreciate being part of the EA community. This year’s isolation has really brought home to me how much it means to me to be surrounded every day by kind people working for the same goal.
I’m less sure of the specific framing of ‘EA as an opportunity’, because so much of EA is about preventing suffering or destruction. Without those being a possibility, we wouldn’t be able to work to prevent them. But I wouldn’t want to imply that their possibility is a good thing. So I guess I might rather say that, given the state of the world, being part of this community feels like a true gift.