Because sometimes, doing good to others, and even doing good to one’s self, is amazingly destructive. Because it’s full of conceit: how do you know what’s good for other people? How do you know what’s good for you? If you say you want to improve, then you ought to know what’s good for you. But obviously you don’t, because if you did you would be improved. So we don’t know.
Have my cake and eat too?
I’ve been wondering if it’s unreasonable to expect my career/job to not only fulfill my basic needs and perhaps some luxuries, but also to do good in the world and provide personal satisfaction. I’ve boxed myself into wanting the good things in life and justifying them by the positive impact I’m making, so I can live guilt-free.
Dealing with Uncertainty
I think philosophies or frameworks like EA are trying to provide an epistemic solution to something that is aleatoric. This might sound a bit “woo” because it is, and I haven’t earned any intellectual clout to say such things. But in my head, it sounds reasonable.
For me, I don’t see this as an opportunity to “throw the baby out with the bathwater” (huzzah, I finally managed to use that idiom XD). Instead, it is somewhat freeing. This means that I shouldn’t overthink small decisions and should do the best with the information I have at the moment, then course correct when required. Zooming out, I like to think that philosophies like EA inform me on those course corrections. At the moment, this seems like a reasonable framework, given that I engage with these ideas reasonably often and update my beliefs.
Earning to give is underrated
IIRC, in Doing Good Better, Will talks about a plastic surgeon in the UK who shouldn’t give up his practice to go volunteer in Africa. I’m extremely privileged, so I cannot say I know what it’s like to be poor, but I’ve seen first hand, the kind of poverty that makes you sick to your stomach.
Even if all you do is take the GWWC pledge, the impact you’re going to have is not something to scoff at. I think the poverty threshold is around 2 dollars. We could double someone’s daily income without much thought. I know everyone here is aware of this fact, but have we really taken the time to feel it viscerally? I know I haven’t.
Some facts/consolation that I found useful
- For regular careers, peak impact happens in the later stages of your career.
- We should approach a career as a scientific experiment.
- Even if you spend the first half of your career trying to figuring things out. The latter half is more than going to compensate for that.
- Helping other people on the same path, motivating, empathising etc is invaluable.