So then we could say—with a certain irony, though that’s not quite the spirit in which we should be doing things—that we should try to propagate a group norm of donating a minimum of 5% of income to real causes. (10% being the usual suggested minimum religious tithe.) And then there’s the art of picking causes for which expected utilons are orders of magnitude cheaper (for so long as the inefficient market in utilons lasts).
I can see both the irony and benefit of promoting a group norm of tithing however that sort of social engineering is just not a tool that I specialise in. I’ll leave the social motivating to the socially motivated.
Personally, I don’t consider an emphasis on tithing to be an effective approach for me to go about increasing the expected utility of the universe upward. The reason goes back to the same quirks of human motivation. Earning money just isn’t the funnest game for me to play. I know that if I pick an activity that pushes some element of humanity or civilisation in a desired direction and that is also something that sparks my interest then I’ll be orders of magnitude more effective. And I don’t say throw ‘orders of magnitude’ about as a flippant exageration. For me direct engagement on a practical goal vs creating wealth to tithe to the furtherment of a goal is the difference between overachievement and outright disfunction.
So basically you can taking your tithing and stick it. I’m going to keep my cash and continue working on developing specific kinds educational resources to give the kind of people I want to benefit the kind of benifit I want them to have.
But long before we can begin to dream of any such boast, we secular humanists need to work on at least matching the per capita benevolent output of the worshippers.
I find it somewhat interesting to note that there are plausible situations (involving tithing norms) that would make it beneficial to ostracize those who express the kind of individualist attitude and intent that I do above. That would be standard human behavior and it is the kind of thing that religions excel at. Religions have a stronger position from which to enforce conformity while humanism has a greater proportion of people who, like me, would contemptuosly reject overt attempts at norm enforcement. That, unfortunately, is an advantage that the Dark is likely to hold for the forseeable future.
I can see both the irony and benefit of promoting a group norm of tithing however that sort of social engineering is just not a tool that I specialise in. I’ll leave the social motivating to the socially motivated.
Personally, I don’t consider an emphasis on tithing to be an effective approach for me to go about increasing the expected utility of the universe upward. The reason goes back to the same quirks of human motivation. Earning money just isn’t the funnest game for me to play. I know that if I pick an activity that pushes some element of humanity or civilisation in a desired direction and that is also something that sparks my interest then I’ll be orders of magnitude more effective. And I don’t say throw ‘orders of magnitude’ about as a flippant exageration. For me direct engagement on a practical goal vs creating wealth to tithe to the furtherment of a goal is the difference between overachievement and outright disfunction.
So basically you can taking your tithing and stick it. I’m going to keep my cash and continue working on developing specific kinds educational resources to give the kind of people I want to benefit the kind of benifit I want them to have.
I find it somewhat interesting to note that there are plausible situations (involving tithing norms) that would make it beneficial to ostracize those who express the kind of individualist attitude and intent that I do above. That would be standard human behavior and it is the kind of thing that religions excel at. Religions have a stronger position from which to enforce conformity while humanism has a greater proportion of people who, like me, would contemptuosly reject overt attempts at norm enforcement. That, unfortunately, is an advantage that the Dark is likely to hold for the forseeable future.