My $0.02: it matters whether I trust the system as a whole (for example, the hospital) to be doing good.
If I do, then if I’m going to be “heroically” responsible I’m obligated to take that into account and make sure my actions promote the functioning of the system as a whole, or at least don’t impede it. Of course, that’s a lot more difficult than just focusing on a particular bit of the environment that I can improve through my actions. But, well, the whole premise underlying “heroic” responsibility is that difficulty doesn’t matter, we just do the “impossible” because hey, it needs doing.
If I don’t, then I can basically ignore the system and go forth and “heroically” do good on my own.
So, yeah, maybe being a “heroically” responsible nurse (as opposed to a “heroically” responsible person, who as you suggest might find it necessary to stop being a nurse and instead take over the medical profession and run it properly) would involve coordinating with the other nurses on your unit, and not just going off on your own to do what you can do with your own two hands.
Which, I understand, is a very different model of “heroic” responsibility than what’s presented in the Sequences (and HPMOR), which is much more about individual achievements against a backdrop of a system that’s at best useless and more often harmful.
Another $0.02: this whole notion of “heroic” responsibility seems incompatible with counting the cost. If achieving whatever-it-is requires working 24-hour shifts, according to this model, then by gum you work 24-hour shifts!
So, yes, burnout is inevitable if whatever-it-is is the sort of thing, like sick patients, that is being presented in a steady stream.
There’s a big difference between a goal like “invent a technology that optimizes the world for human value,” which only needs to be done once, and a goal like “care for my patient” which has to be done over, and over, and over. I’m not sure it’s possible for humans to be “heroic” about the latter without generalizing to the root causes and giving up being a nurse.
My $0.02: it matters whether I trust the system as a whole (for example, the hospital) to be doing good.
If I do, then if I’m going to be “heroically” responsible I’m obligated to take that into account and make sure my actions promote the functioning of the system as a whole, or at least don’t impede it. Of course, that’s a lot more difficult than just focusing on a particular bit of the environment that I can improve through my actions. But, well, the whole premise underlying “heroic” responsibility is that difficulty doesn’t matter, we just do the “impossible” because hey, it needs doing.
If I don’t, then I can basically ignore the system and go forth and “heroically” do good on my own.
So, yeah, maybe being a “heroically” responsible nurse (as opposed to a “heroically” responsible person, who as you suggest might find it necessary to stop being a nurse and instead take over the medical profession and run it properly) would involve coordinating with the other nurses on your unit, and not just going off on your own to do what you can do with your own two hands.
Which, I understand, is a very different model of “heroic” responsibility than what’s presented in the Sequences (and HPMOR), which is much more about individual achievements against a backdrop of a system that’s at best useless and more often harmful.
Another $0.02: this whole notion of “heroic” responsibility seems incompatible with counting the cost. If achieving whatever-it-is requires working 24-hour shifts, according to this model, then by gum you work 24-hour shifts!
So, yes, burnout is inevitable if whatever-it-is is the sort of thing, like sick patients, that is being presented in a steady stream.
There’s a big difference between a goal like “invent a technology that optimizes the world for human value,” which only needs to be done once, and a goal like “care for my patient” which has to be done over, and over, and over. I’m not sure it’s possible for humans to be “heroic” about the latter without generalizing to the root causes and giving up being a nurse.