While re-reading the article, “Is it OK to make Art?” after obtaining information from the Effective Altruism website, I had a slightly different perspective of the article.
One brand new thing that came to light after re-reading the text a second time is that, “Everyone can be doing more than they currently are”. After going back and forth trying to pick a side whether I agreed with the EA’s or if I agreed with the aspect of art and creativity, I could not choose a side. However, I do believe that every single person could always find a way to help others more than we currently are.
Something new I noticed was the analogy that every time we stop trying to stop the world suffering around us, it’s like, “taking a nap” and ignoring the girl who was drowning in the pond. If we are not constantly working towards our goal, then we are actively working against it, by not fixing it.
Decoding the text helped me to better understand the text. For example, I used http://www.dictionary.com to find definitions of words like coalescing, futility, negligible, as well as egalitarianism. Knowing exactly what each sentence was saying helped me to comprehend the message behind the words of the text.
I think the fact that you find yourself going “back and forth” is an honest and wonderful reaction to this essay. That seems to happen to Southan, himself. Keep up the good work, and keep looking up all those words you don’t know! 🙂