Fantastically written! The voice you write with is enjoyable and captivating for these topics. Gave me new ways to think about things I see in myself and others.
I used to live in a system where intense effort was put into becoming clean, pure saints. It was altruisitic, but purity didnt only mean no harm. It also meant spending every ounce of energy studying torah. (This is trying to shed light on sometjing underplayed in your essay- saints arent all EAs. They often hold a virtue ethics view within an ideology.)
The mains shift ive experienced from that place is that if I want to be a source of good for others, i need to overflow. Self sacrifice only works if its done in joy.
So instead of dropping saintliness, ive become wiser about it.
Better than Virtue: Saints, Heroes and Creators
Fantastically written! The voice you write with is enjoyable and captivating for these topics. Gave me new ways to think about things I see in myself and others.
I used to live in a system where intense effort was put into becoming clean, pure saints. It was altruisitic, but purity didnt only mean no harm. It also meant spending every ounce of energy studying torah. (This is trying to shed light on sometjing underplayed in your essay- saints arent all EAs. They often hold a virtue ethics view within an ideology.)
The mains shift ive experienced from that place is that if I want to be a source of good for others, i need to overflow. Self sacrifice only works if its done in joy.
So instead of dropping saintliness, ive become wiser about it.
Counter proposition:
- Saints are on Mt. Piety, and often may not be truthful or candid https://theredqueen.substack.com/p/dunning-kruger-power-effect
- It is more likely that Creators to be previously heros than saints https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-or-the-office-according-to-the-office/
- It is more likely for Saints to portray Midwit traits https://alima.substack.com/p/midwits-and-the-office https://sachink.substack.com/p/midwits-and-meta-contrarianism
- "playing it safe" is Cheems Mindset, thus fragile https://normielisation.substack.com/p/personal-cheems-mindset?s=r https://dwarkeshpatel.com/barbell-strategies/
- Saints are part of the Elite Overproduction problem https://peterturchin.com/ages-of-discord/ https://archive.ph/IX5m2