Very engaging post! I appreciated how it covered the many different aspects of the decision-making and transition process: rational, practical, social and emotional. I feel like this would have value to animal advocates who are not particularly interested in EA, as it would be a very concrete way of introducing the difficult questions one grapples with when considering impact. However, I am not sure where else this could be posted in order for members of this wider audience to access it.
I hope this is not too much of a digression from the core of the post, but I was struck to see that you cited Brian Tomasikās article as being more or less the spark that set the organization off on the course of reevaluating their interventions, and eventually changing their domain of action. I often notice individuals in EA organizationsāor non-EA animal advocatesāciting Tomasik as someone who has led them to reevaluate their considerations, and sometimes even to change the type of interventions that they put in place. He also seems to have come first in advocating for earning-to-give (in 2006), appears to be one of the most cited advocates for reducing wild-animal suffering (2009), created the second-ever table trying to evaluate direct suffering caused by animal foods (2007), and wrote the first article dedicated to s-risks (2013). These things have all been substantially expanded upon since, and some, such as Wild Animal Welfare, are even considered by somes as EA causes in their own right. Would I be wrong in considering Brian Tomasikās influence as having been comparably far-reaching within the movement (especially on the level of ideas) as Toby Ordās or Nick Bostromās ?
(Side note: I know this is probably not the most important subject to think about, but I find it helpful to get a clearer picture of where the core concepts and claims that make up Effective Altruism come from, in order to be more aware of the contingencies of the movement; also, trying to vaguely keep track of this helps me reflect on the influence that sharing ideas can haveāand that is something where on the surface level, Tomasikās record seems out of the ordinary, especially for someone who isnāt much of a public figure).
Itās hard for me to assess how influential Brian is and was, but I agree itās probably big.
Many of his articles moved me a lot. He writes about animals with deep care and is really serious about not harming them. Even insects, which most peopleāincluding meādonāt naturally feel much empathy for. I remember feeling grateful several times while reading his articles that at least some people have such altruism for animals.
Very engaging post! I appreciated how it covered the many different aspects of the decision-making and transition process: rational, practical, social and emotional. I feel like this would have value to animal advocates who are not particularly interested in EA, as it would be a very concrete way of introducing the difficult questions one grapples with when considering impact. However, I am not sure where else this could be posted in order for members of this wider audience to access it.
I hope this is not too much of a digression from the core of the post, but I was struck to see that you cited Brian Tomasikās article as being more or less the spark that set the organization off on the course of reevaluating their interventions, and eventually changing their domain of action. I often notice individuals in EA organizationsāor non-EA animal advocatesāciting Tomasik as someone who has led them to reevaluate their considerations, and sometimes even to change the type of interventions that they put in place. He also seems to have come first in advocating for earning-to-give (in 2006), appears to be one of the most cited advocates for reducing wild-animal suffering (2009), created the second-ever table trying to evaluate direct suffering caused by animal foods (2007), and wrote the first article dedicated to s-risks (2013). These things have all been substantially expanded upon since, and some, such as Wild Animal Welfare, are even considered by somes as EA causes in their own right. Would I be wrong in considering Brian Tomasikās influence as having been comparably far-reaching within the movement (especially on the level of ideas) as Toby Ordās or Nick Bostromās ?
(Side note: I know this is probably not the most important subject to think about, but I find it helpful to get a clearer picture of where the core concepts and claims that make up Effective Altruism come from, in order to be more aware of the contingencies of the movement; also, trying to vaguely keep track of this helps me reflect on the influence that sharing ideas can haveāand that is something where on the surface level, Tomasikās record seems out of the ordinary, especially for someone who isnāt much of a public figure).
Itās hard for me to assess how influential Brian is and was, but I agree itās probably big.
Many of his articles moved me a lot. He writes about animals with deep care and is really serious about not harming them. Even insects, which most peopleāincluding meādonāt naturally feel much empathy for. I remember feeling grateful several times while reading his articles that at least some people have such altruism for animals.