by Vesa Hautala This post is related to the EACH research agenda item 6.1 “Are there differences between different forms of Christianity in how compatible they are with EA?” In this post, I will explore whether there are differences in how responsive different forms of Christianity are to EA. By various forms of Christianity, I mean different denominations but also inter- and intra-denominational variations like the conservative-liberal axis. This post focuses on the current representation of different Christian groups in EA and the possible reasons behind it. As there is only little hard data, a lot of what follows is (hopefully educated!) speculation.
Thanks for writing, Vesa. I think there are two important explanations for the absence of conservative Protestants and Catholics in EA.
1. EA is not culturally Protestant, it's culturally San Franciscan. All of these things are over-represented in EA: polyamory, introducing yourself with pronouns, childlessness, feminism, non-Christian religions, left-wing politics, thinking cryonics is the best way to live forever. Why would we expect Southern Baptists or trad Caths to want to hang out with us?
2. Many people in those groups are already maximizing. If you're a man who think Roman Catholicism is true, the single best thing you can probably do is become a priest given the mass priest shortage. If you're a conservative Protestant, what's more valuable- saving souls or donating to AMF? The first one. Consequentialist Christians can easily defend becoming a pastor, an apologist, or donating to missionaries over every typical EA cause.
Christians in EA seem to disproportionately not like evangelism, some for cultural reasons, other for theological reasons (thinking universalism is 100% true), which opens the door to work on more "worldly " forms of EV maximization.
Thankis for the comment! I agree that these are both important explanations. I gestured at point 1 when I wrote about EA culture being hard to approach for certain (likely many, not just especially conservative) Christians. This is one of the reasons I think EA for Christians and other affinity groups exist; there's nothing in EA itself that necessitates a "San Fransiscan" culture. But I guess you need a certain tolerance for the Bay Area type stuff if you want to engage with the EA movement, which filters out the most conservative.
Point 2 I hadn't considered. It does seem likely that the more maximising types among conservative Christians would end up maximising evangelism, entering the priesthood, etc. But I think there are serious reasons to engage in charity for them (the Bible and Church tradition are both pretty explicit about it), and EA could help to optimise that charity.
Thanks for writing, Vesa. I think there are two important explanations for the absence of conservative Protestants and Catholics in EA.
1. EA is not culturally Protestant, it's culturally San Franciscan. All of these things are over-represented in EA: polyamory, introducing yourself with pronouns, childlessness, feminism, non-Christian religions, left-wing politics, thinking cryonics is the best way to live forever. Why would we expect Southern Baptists or trad Caths to want to hang out with us?
2. Many people in those groups are already maximizing. If you're a man who think Roman Catholicism is true, the single best thing you can probably do is become a priest given the mass priest shortage. If you're a conservative Protestant, what's more valuable- saving souls or donating to AMF? The first one. Consequentialist Christians can easily defend becoming a pastor, an apologist, or donating to missionaries over every typical EA cause.
Christians in EA seem to disproportionately not like evangelism, some for cultural reasons, other for theological reasons (thinking universalism is 100% true), which opens the door to work on more "worldly " forms of EV maximization.
Thankis for the comment! I agree that these are both important explanations. I gestured at point 1 when I wrote about EA culture being hard to approach for certain (likely many, not just especially conservative) Christians. This is one of the reasons I think EA for Christians and other affinity groups exist; there's nothing in EA itself that necessitates a "San Fransiscan" culture. But I guess you need a certain tolerance for the Bay Area type stuff if you want to engage with the EA movement, which filters out the most conservative.
Point 2 I hadn't considered. It does seem likely that the more maximising types among conservative Christians would end up maximising evangelism, entering the priesthood, etc. But I think there are serious reasons to engage in charity for them (the Bible and Church tradition are both pretty explicit about it), and EA could help to optimise that charity.