The cost of doing so has an effect on productivity (due to nutritional effects, but also effects on attention and general hassle, as well as coordination costs), and using a fraction of that additional productivity to help animals results in a much larger reduction in net animal suffering (because of the abundance of easy opportunities for helping animals, due to the horrible state of animal lives).
The cost of doing so has an effect on productivity (due to nutritional effects, but also effects on attention and general hassle, as well as coordination costs)
I agree. When I gave up animal products it caused me to constantly think about it, especially when I was with others. It’s an unnecessary timesink in that sense. I can list other costs too:
1. There’s still a stigma to being vegan, so people are less likely to want to be friends with you, and your networking skills will suffer.
2. You won’t be invited places sometimes due to the lack of vegan options and the fact that people who know you wouldn’t want you to feel left out.
3. It might make you become less consequentialist and more deontological. I have found that veganism is much more focused on a “Thou shall not cause intentional harm to animals” than something which I am much more likely to reflectively endorse, like “Thou shall include the suffering and happiness of animals in one’s plans to make the world better.”
There’s still a stigma to being vegan, so people are less likely to want to be friends with you, and your networking skills will suffer.
Note that the opposite can also be true, especially if your plan to improve the world involves engaging with the animal rights community, or other people who care about animals.
The cost of doing so has an effect on productivity (due to nutritional effects, but also effects on attention and general hassle, as well as coordination costs), and using a fraction of that additional productivity to help animals results in a much larger reduction in net animal suffering (because of the abundance of easy opportunities for helping animals, due to the horrible state of animal lives).
I agree. When I gave up animal products it caused me to constantly think about it, especially when I was with others. It’s an unnecessary timesink in that sense. I can list other costs too:
1. There’s still a stigma to being vegan, so people are less likely to want to be friends with you, and your networking skills will suffer.
2. You won’t be invited places sometimes due to the lack of vegan options and the fact that people who know you wouldn’t want you to feel left out.
3. It might make you become less consequentialist and more deontological. I have found that veganism is much more focused on a “Thou shall not cause intentional harm to animals” than something which I am much more likely to reflectively endorse, like “Thou shall include the suffering and happiness of animals in one’s plans to make the world better.”
Note that the opposite can also be true, especially if your plan to improve the world involves engaging with the animal rights community, or other people who care about animals.