Apr 9, 2019
This episode features:
-What proportion of effective altruists decrease their involvement over time?
-Why do people decrease their involvement with effective altruism?
-Why effective altruist values are particularly vulnerable to drift
-Should you expect your values to get better or worse over time?
-Should you try to prevent value drift?
-How you can use nudges and commitment devices to prevent value drift
-How the “foot-in-the-door” phenomenon might push you towards doing good now, even if your impact is small
-Should you choose effective altruist projects based on selfish considerations?
-References-
Apply Psychology:
Cross, K. P. (1977). Not can, but will college teaching be improved?. New Directions for Higher Education, 1977(17), 1-15.
Freedman, J. L., & Fraser, S. C. (1966). Compliance without pressure: the foot-in-the-door technique. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 4(2), 195.
Quoidbach, J., Gilbert, D. T., & Wilson, T. D. (2013). The end of history illusion. Science, 339(6115), 96-98.
Thaler, R. H., & Sunstein, C. R. (2009). Nudge: Improving decisions about health, wealth, and happiness. Penguin.
Van Gestel, L. C., Kroese, F. M., & De Ridder, D. T. D. (2018). Nudging at the checkout counter–A longitudinal study of the effect of a food repositioning nudge on healthy food choice. Psychology & Health, 33(6), 800-809.
EA Survey 2018 Series: Community Demographics & Characteristics
Concrete Ways to Reduce Risks of Value Drift
Check This Rec:
Wrangham, R. (2019). The Goodness Paradox: The Strange Relationship Between Virtue and Violence in Human Evolution. Pantheon.