89: How can Africa avoid industrialised animal farming? – Cameron King of Animal Advocacy Africa – Sentientist Conversation

We discuss the biggest questions: "what's real?", "who matters?" and "how to make a better world?" with scientists, celebrities, activists, writers and philosophers. The Sentientism worldview is "evidence, reason and compassion for all sentient beings." It's a simple, yet radical, philosophy that's grounded in reality (naturalistic epistemology) and has compassion for all sentient beings (mostly human and non-human animals). Naturalism & sentiocentrism combined.

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Cameron (cameron@animaladvocacyafrica.org) is the Operations Lead for Animal Advocacy Africa (also @Animal_Africa). Cameron ran his own eCommerce business for several years before pivoting to charity entrepreneurship to have a more extensive & substantial positive impact on the world. Cameron has been involved in the Effective Altruism community for over ten years & went through Charity Entrepreneurship’s 2020 incubation program.

In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “what matters?”

Sentientism is “evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” The video of our conversation is here on YouTube.

We discuss:

00:00 Welcome

01:15 Cameron’s Intro

– Studying, business, Effective Altruism, earning to give, charity entrepreneurship, starting AAA

03:01 What’s Real?

– Growing up with a logical/reasoned/scientific mindset

– Attending church & religious school

– Being drawn to scepticism, rationalism, atheism, Effective Altruism

– Softening to consider Buddhism/spiritualist elements

– Meditation “It felt like there’s something more going on here”. Interconnectedness, a peace with determinism (no free will)

– There are some moral truths in religious thinking. Religion as metaphor

– Open mindedness & humility

15:30 What (& Who) Matters?

– An early sense of justice “I couldn’t sit back & do nothing”

– Suffering/contentment as a core moral axiom

– The asymmetry betwee suffering & flourishing

– We can learn & grow & become happier from suffering

– Over-simplifying suffering/flourishing

– “Notes From the Underground” by Dostoevsky & Alan Watts

– Understanding/truth/knowledge as a meta-goal for humanity?

– “You can kind of fit everything in” to sentience

– Considering moral scope as a teenager. Other humans. Other sentients. Veganism.

– Watching challenging YouTube ethical debate videos (Joey Carbstrong)… “I can’t answer this… It shook me.”

– A “who can be vegetarian for the longest” bet with a friend. Going vegan 4 weeks later

– The social/family aspect was the most difficult partly because “It challenges other people’s beliefs”

– “I’ve now channelled my vegan angst into this charity”

– “Changing your mind is possible.”

– Bio/ecocentrism?

– Digital sentience?

– Animal farming as an obvious, tractable, human wrong

– Wild animal suffering vs. an idealistic reverence for “nature”

– Links between naturalistic epistemology & ethics

38:08 How Can we Make a Better World?

– Effective Altruism: “Doing the most good you can in an evidence based & effective way”

…and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info and on YouTube.

Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our “I’m a Sentientist” wall via this simple form.

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Thanks Graham.