I’m not sure it’s helpful to view one’s capacity to make sacrifices as a fixed budget. I wouldn’t be surprised if vegans and monks tend to become more ethical rather than less ethical. Not just because it’s signalling which correlates with wider ethical behaviours—but because making an ethical sacrifice does something to your psychology (e.g. makes you start to self-identify as an ethical person) and this actually increases your capacity to make further sacrifices.
Some sacrifices probably trade off against each other more directly than others. For example, if I donate 10 dollars to charity A, I can definitely imagine feeling less morally obliged to donate a further 10 dollars to charity B. However, if I save a child from a burning building, I don’t think this would reduce my enthusiasm for donating 10 dollars to charity. In fact, I can imagine it doing the opposite.
I think this is a very strong counterargument. Perhaps making personal sacrifices changes your character such that it becomes easier to make further sacrifice. I think this might have more to do with a misperception as to how much a lifestyle change would end up being a long-term sacrifice. There may be the perception by the monks and the vegans from the outset that they are giving up significantly more than they feel to be after they have changed and adjusted to their new lifestyles. This would probably warrant experimentation within life to determine what lifestyle changes and choices are more or less (or negative) burdensome.
Not “changes your character” but—rather—reveals character; it’s called an “ask” because the call to sacrifice is both general and (per the individual’s sacrifice) personal—and it serves many functions (as mentioned).
In any case, one of the other replies (from ‘@Ben Auer’) mentioned that “Value drift is not about losing sight of whetheryour actions are effective, but losing the motivation to care about whether your actions are effective.”; in other words, what is being called a “sacrifice portfolio” is—in truth—effort (i.e. not a portfolio of sacrifices but a set of willful conscious actions, often at abstaining from a mentality as much as a behavior). One can argue the merits, but there is nothing compulsory thereabouts—which is why people undertake such effort voluntarily, sometimes take a break, and often return after a break (gamification & a high score isn’t the ultimate goal).
I’m not sure it’s helpful to view one’s capacity to make sacrifices as a fixed budget. I wouldn’t be surprised if vegans and monks tend to become more ethical rather than less ethical. Not just because it’s signalling which correlates with wider ethical behaviours—but because making an ethical sacrifice does something to your psychology (e.g. makes you start to self-identify as an ethical person) and this actually increases your capacity to make further sacrifices.
Some sacrifices probably trade off against each other more directly than others. For example, if I donate 10 dollars to charity A, I can definitely imagine feeling less morally obliged to donate a further 10 dollars to charity B. However, if I save a child from a burning building, I don’t think this would reduce my enthusiasm for donating 10 dollars to charity. In fact, I can imagine it doing the opposite.
I think this is a very strong counterargument. Perhaps making personal sacrifices changes your character such that it becomes easier to make further sacrifice. I think this might have more to do with a misperception as to how much a lifestyle change would end up being a long-term sacrifice. There may be the perception by the monks and the vegans from the outset that they are giving up significantly more than they feel to be after they have changed and adjusted to their new lifestyles. This would probably warrant experimentation within life to determine what lifestyle changes and choices are more or less (or negative) burdensome.
Not “changes your character” but—rather—reveals character; it’s called an “ask” because the call to sacrifice is both general and (per the individual’s sacrifice) personal—and it serves many functions (as mentioned).
In any case, one of the other replies (from ‘@Ben Auer’) mentioned that “Value drift is not about losing sight of whether your actions are effective, but losing the motivation to care about whether your actions are effective.”; in other words, what is being called a “sacrifice portfolio” is—in truth—effort (i.e. not a portfolio of sacrifices but a set of willful conscious actions, often at abstaining from a mentality as much as a behavior). One can argue the merits, but there is nothing compulsory thereabouts—which is why people undertake such effort voluntarily, sometimes take a break, and often return after a break (gamification & a high score isn’t the ultimate goal).