What music do you find most inspires you to use your resources (effectively) to help others?

post by So-Low Growth · 2020-11-21T13:54:35.910Z · EA · GW · 1 comment

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    Rowan_Stanley
    SamiM
    Rowan_Stanley
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Reading through lukefreeman's question was uplifting. I'm guessing we could compile similar lists (i.e. art and music). Not sure if this has been done before so here goes, "what music do you find most inspires you to use your resources (effectively) to help others?". 

Answers

answer by Rowan_Stanley · 2020-11-29T09:28:25.125Z · EA(p) · GW(p)

Ooh, good question! I have a playlist I sometimes listen to when doing EA work, to keep me going/inspired.

Most of the songs aren't specifically EA related, though, just vaguely... humanist-y? (What my husband calls 'atheist worship music').

Picking out a few of the more thematically appropriate ones:

  • 'Every Little Thing' by Peter Doran. (A nice anticonsumerist/minimalist piece that helps keep me motivated to donate)
  • 'Oh Virtus Sapientiae' by Hildegard von Bingen. (A hymn by a medieval nun, extolling the virtues of wisdom)
  • 'Glory Hallelujah' by Frank Turner. Not a religious song, despite the name. I particularly like the later verse/s:

"...If we accept that there's an end game and we haven't got much time,
Then in the here and now we can try and do things right.
We'd be our own Salvation Army, and together we'd believe
In all the wondrous things that mere mortals can achieve."

I'm always on the lookout for more songs for my playlist, so keen to hear everyone's suggestions.

answer by SamiM · 2020-11-21T19:19:32.275Z · EA(p) · GW(p)

I don't think music affects my behavior a lot, but I really like this song.

↑ comment by So-Low Growth · 2020-11-21T22:35:44.744Z · EA(p) · GW(p)

Haha - wow!

Replies from: SamiM
↑ comment by SamiM · 2020-11-22T12:17:53.390Z · EA(p) · GW(p)

I came across this playlist about the end of the world, might be of interest.

Replies from: evelynciara, So-Low Growth, evelynciara, Rowan_Stanley
↑ comment by evelynciara · 2021-04-17T17:51:19.526Z · EA(p) · GW(p)

Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) has its own playlist: Atomic Songs

↑ comment by So-Low Growth · 2020-11-22T13:50:31.120Z · EA(p) · GW(p)

Haha - 15 hours of end of the world music sounds up my street! Here's one I like, Charles Bradley, "The World is Going Up in Flames." 

Replies from: Rowan_Stanley
↑ comment by Rowan_Stanley · 2020-11-29T09:30:56.090Z · EA(p) · GW(p)

Thanks for the rec- I've added that one to  my EA playlist

↑ comment by evelynciara · 2020-11-22T18:52:46.011Z · EA(p) · GW(p)

Thank you for sharing this playlist! I added some songs from the Linkin Park album A Thousand Suns, which deals with x-risk.

Replies from: Rowan_Stanley
↑ comment by Rowan_Stanley · 2020-11-29T10:01:40.558Z · EA(p) · GW(p)

Thanks for sharing these- I've added some of them to my playlist.

↑ comment by Rowan_Stanley · 2020-11-29T09:29:42.424Z · EA(p) · GW(p)

This is awesome, thank you! Another song on the X risk / end of the world theme is Tom Lehrer's 'We'll All Go Together When We Go', though that's more comedy than inspirational.

answer by Rowan_Stanley · 2020-11-29T09:48:44.789Z · EA(p) · GW(p)

Also worth mentioning here, especially with the holidays coming up- Raymond Arnold's 'Secular Solstice' album. I particularly like 'Brighter than Today' and 'Five Billion Years'

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comment by Rowan_Stanley · 2020-11-29T09:54:12.375Z · EA(p) · GW(p)

There's a somewhat related discussion, including people's recommendations,  over on LessWrong: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/jyDTh9vnmczuNNxgt/rational-humanist-music [LW · GW]