My two experiences reading Southan’s essay were actually much different. The second time I read it I noticed a lot more than the first time. When I first read the article I was really against the EA. For some reason everything I read about them I just felt it was very extreme. After looking at their website and talking with classmates, I came to understand a lot of their points the second time around. So I actually think I read more critically the first time and more as a believer the second time. One thing I noticed that I didn’t the first time reading was in the beginning Southan talks about how the EA were going on this trip to get some altruism writing done. I thought this was ironic because they seemed very against writing the first time I read.

Decoding the text actually helped me understand the essay a lot more. Most of the time I am honestly just too lazy to look up words that I don’t know. Seeing how much more I get out of it when I take the time and look up the unfamiliar worlds, I realized I should do it every time I read. There were many times I had to look up words or a website during this essay. I did not know what “altruism” meant and also he referenced a website 80,000 Hours that I looked up. Looking these unfamiliar terms and websites up allowed me to understand and make more connections with the readings. For looking up words I used dictionary.com and the website was 80000hours.org.