You touch on this briefly at the end, but I think what is missing from these “consider leaving EA posts” is what one might do before getting to the point where leaving is the best option. What might some early warning signs be, and what are some less intense measures someone might wish to consider prior to leaving entirely?
I wonder what we can do as a community to make these sorts of considerations easier on people. How might we be able to build structures/processes that can help people before it gets bad?
I think you might be underestimating the difficulty of coming back to the community after leaving. A few things that might be difficult about returning are (a) feeling like you’re out of the epistemic loop, (b) feeling weird about suddenly reappearing when people might notice you’ve been gone, and (c) needing to make life decisions while you’re gone (finding new jobs, moving, etc).
Are there other such posts? I guess because I—erm—left for a while, I may have missed them!
Might be worth thinking about, sure. In my case I don’t think there’d have been much.
Maybe! I dunno. A and B have been pretty easy for me. And C, yeah! But to some degree I think that’s the point—if you’re unhappy with a life trying to make EA your social life + career + sense of meaning, try making a life where it’s none of those things (and donate far more money to charity than anyone else you know thinks is reasonable, sure), and then when you’re fully stable and secure, you can consider returning with a clear mind.
I suppose all this is quite n=1 though! It’s just worked well for me. But mileage may vary.
Thanks for writing this!
A few thoughts:
You touch on this briefly at the end, but I think what is missing from these “consider leaving EA posts” is what one might do before getting to the point where leaving is the best option. What might some early warning signs be, and what are some less intense measures someone might wish to consider prior to leaving entirely?
I wonder what we can do as a community to make these sorts of considerations easier on people. How might we be able to build structures/processes that can help people before it gets bad?
I think you might be underestimating the difficulty of coming back to the community after leaving. A few things that might be difficult about returning are (a) feeling like you’re out of the epistemic loop, (b) feeling weird about suddenly reappearing when people might notice you’ve been gone, and (c) needing to make life decisions while you’re gone (finding new jobs, moving, etc).
Are there other such posts? I guess because I—erm—left for a while, I may have missed them!
Might be worth thinking about, sure. In my case I don’t think there’d have been much.
Maybe! I dunno. A and B have been pretty easy for me. And C, yeah! But to some degree I think that’s the point—if you’re unhappy with a life trying to make EA your social life + career + sense of meaning, try making a life where it’s none of those things (and donate far more money to charity than anyone else you know thinks is reasonable, sure), and then when you’re fully stable and secure, you can consider returning with a clear mind.
I suppose all this is quite n=1 though! It’s just worked well for me. But mileage may vary.