Thank you for the post. I've joined Less Wrong less than a year ago, so personally I appreciated getting more context around it.
I'd like to respond to your last point, on whether EA is innate. I agree that those who join EA should have at least a strong common denominator. From my own experience, I'd say that EA should easily catch the interest of anyone curious enough. When I mentionned the movement to my professors or friends, they were very much intrigued. As you mentionned, however, it wasn't enough for them to actually join the movement. They see the ...
I think you're raising good points, but I am wondering if 1) is still true. I have noticed recently that French media outlets have become increasingly polarised, which is encouraging all media to defend their ideological fortress to the death. For example, there is a widening ideological gap between Le Monde and Le Figaro, with both of them taking opposed and controversial stances (racialism/"decolonialisme" for one, and xenophobia/islamophobia for the other).
This is also true for News Channels. Cnews appeals to a right-wing audience while public cha...
I'm wondering if this isn't simplifying the issue.
You are absolutely right when arguing that a government that yields to extorsion is giving an incentive to other terrorists. The rational choice does appear to be to resist. But then why would France accept to pay the ransoms while Israel send its commando units ? I believe the difference lies in the perceived role of the state; France gives priority to an individual life because it's part of their philosophical history and, more importantly, because these last decades have seen France put more and mo...
I could tell you that your grandmother comes first so you shouldn't overthink it: earn the money doing what you do best until you find a more ethical alternative. It's okay to have strict ethics but it's not helping you much right now.
I could tell you to write your ideas somewhere, to post them online (LessWrong is there for that, isn'it it?) so that they're not lost even if you forget them, even if you don't have the time to bring them to life. So that your knowledge and ideas live on.
I could go on, but I'm not one to tell how people should live the...
I am the same as you, and unfortunately I have yet to find an efficient method for that. Still, what I'm doing is having a friend whose ideas are (or rather whose ideology is) against mines so that it forces me to ponder over my own beliefs. The fiercer the debate, the more contradictions that arise.
(important note: I have a severe depression characterized by low motivation/energy and resistance to treatment)
I take relatively frequently moderate doses of amphetamine-class stimulants, which gives me more cognitive bandwidth to work with. As such it's much easier for me to thoroughly examine a belief and update based on that examination, as it takes motivation/energy to do that in my case.