Two questions: (i) do you agree with my hypothesis; and (ii) if so, does it matter?
Non-directed kidney donation seems to be a part of the EA culture, for obvious reasons. Separately, a cornerstone of the EA perspective is that emotional empathy is not enough: cognitive empathy (i.e., reason) should play a critical, even dominant, role in our moral decision-making.
A recent, highly publicized study found that non-directed kidney donors have greater-than-average emotional empathy: “The results of brain scans and behavioral testing suggests that these donors have some structural and functional brain differences that may make them more sensitive, on average, to other people’s distress.” http://www.georgetown.edu/news/abigail-marsh-brain-altruism-study.html
Hypothesis: That doesn’t hold for EA types that have donated kidneys.
Thanks for the link, Tom. And yes, I agree that my hypothesis is an indirect answer to the question you posed elsewhere in this thread.
I don’t personally know that many EAs, but I am certainly on the cold side of the emotional spectrum. I am sure there are psych/neuroscience papers on this, but I wouldn’t be surprised if emotional and cognitive empathy can work at cross purposes (see, e.g., trolley hypotheticals), which might be why those who have a lot of the latter have less of the former.
Two questions: (i) do you agree with my hypothesis; and (ii) if so, does it matter?
Non-directed kidney donation seems to be a part of the EA culture, for obvious reasons. Separately, a cornerstone of the EA perspective is that emotional empathy is not enough: cognitive empathy (i.e., reason) should play a critical, even dominant, role in our moral decision-making.
A recent, highly publicized study found that non-directed kidney donors have greater-than-average emotional empathy: “The results of brain scans and behavioral testing suggests that these donors have some structural and functional brain differences that may make them more sensitive, on average, to other people’s distress.” http://www.georgetown.edu/news/abigail-marsh-brain-altruism-study.html
Hypothesis: That doesn’t hold for EA types that have donated kidneys.
Relevant: Kidney donation is a reasonable choice for effective altruists and more should consider it.
Do you think EAs are in general not unusually empathetic? I discussed a similar issue elsewhere in this open thread.
Thanks for the link, Tom. And yes, I agree that my hypothesis is an indirect answer to the question you posed elsewhere in this thread.
I don’t personally know that many EAs, but I am certainly on the cold side of the emotional spectrum. I am sure there are psych/neuroscience papers on this, but I wouldn’t be surprised if emotional and cognitive empathy can work at cross purposes (see, e.g., trolley hypotheticals), which might be why those who have a lot of the latter have less of the former.