Moral Imperative
When I was 15 I wanted to be a physicist really bad. My idol was Richard Feynman. I was convinced it was my passion. My purpose. I even made a PowerPoint presentation trying to convince my mom to let me be a physicist. She was not impressed. I could only be a doctor or engineer.
Now when I think about it I like physics but I don't feel the same passion I had. I could switch fields and go into physics now. I don't want to. It took a while to realise passion is a hoax. A fickle thing you can't rely upon.
Only last month I saw a lot of posts on Twitter about AI safety. It got me convinced that no one was paying attention to it much. That I was needed to save the world. Like some superhero. It was my purpose. The feeling only lasted a day.
If I made my career choices according to passion it would be a disaster. Hoping from one passion train to the other. Going nowhere. Whatever you do you will have hard days. Tasks which you don't like. Days where it is not fun but a slog. How do you push through when the reason you started on that trajectory is something as 'fickle' as passion?
For the longest time, I had value addition as the answer. Trying to surround myself with the right people and the right environment. With a combination of pride, you get from getting good at something. You get freedom and rewards proportional to the value you give society.
And it still is true. But 'Passion' always wins on the branding. It is one word. Evokes strong emotion. It gets the lizard brain going. Only recently I found a word that can tickle my lizard brain the same way and sits well with my personal experience - 'Moral Imperative'.
Sam Altman put it wonderfully. He believes it is his 'Moral Imperative' to bring forth a techno-utopia. And all his choices come from it. It is a powerful thing to have. Your own 'Moral Imperative'. Something you feel is your moral obligation to do on this earth. It is sturdy and powerful. Something that guides the choices you make.
I am trying to define my moral imperative. I believe you should too.