During freshman year of college (’09-’10), I decided to donate some money to charity on a whim. After some reflection on how much to donate, I decided that the morally correct option was to live on as little money as possible and donate the remainder. (Extremism is very attractive to college freshmen.) I lived as ascetically as I could and gave away the possessions and money that I thought I didn’t need. I looked like a homeless person, with my feet sticking through the ends of my falling apart sneakers, and I sewed patches over the holes in my clothes rather than buy new stuff. (In retrospect, these things weren’t worth the time and reputation costs. Basic clothes and shoes are cheap.) I drank 7 cups of tea a day to avoid hunger and also would scrounge whatever half-eaten food I could find around my dorm. (Some of the “candy” I ate was actually psychedelic drugs, I think.)
As a coincidence, a few months after I began this endeavor, I met Jason (Gaverick) Matheny. My mom was working as an assistant for him, though neither of my parents are EAs. He came over for dinner one night, and we talked about our shared interest in altruism. (The term “effective altruism” didn’t exist at the time.)
Jason has been a valuable mentor for me over the years. I had the altruism part down, but he’s helped me think a lot more about effectiveness. He eventually introduced me to 80K, and from there I connected with the rest of the EA community.
Wow, I didn’t know Gaverick had played this role in your life. He is a true pioneer, and one of my favorite living people. (As you probably know, he did some pretty extreme things too upon first encountering Singer’s ideas, though eventually realized that altruism is not about sacrifice.)
During freshman year of college (’09-’10), I decided to donate some money to charity on a whim. After some reflection on how much to donate, I decided that the morally correct option was to live on as little money as possible and donate the remainder. (Extremism is very attractive to college freshmen.) I lived as ascetically as I could and gave away the possessions and money that I thought I didn’t need. I looked like a homeless person, with my feet sticking through the ends of my falling apart sneakers, and I sewed patches over the holes in my clothes rather than buy new stuff. (In retrospect, these things weren’t worth the time and reputation costs. Basic clothes and shoes are cheap.) I drank 7 cups of tea a day to avoid hunger and also would scrounge whatever half-eaten food I could find around my dorm. (Some of the “candy” I ate was actually psychedelic drugs, I think.)
As a coincidence, a few months after I began this endeavor, I met Jason (Gaverick) Matheny. My mom was working as an assistant for him, though neither of my parents are EAs. He came over for dinner one night, and we talked about our shared interest in altruism. (The term “effective altruism” didn’t exist at the time.)
Jason has been a valuable mentor for me over the years. I had the altruism part down, but he’s helped me think a lot more about effectiveness. He eventually introduced me to 80K, and from there I connected with the rest of the EA community.
Wow, I didn’t know Gaverick had played this role in your life. He is a true pioneer, and one of my favorite living people. (As you probably know, he did some pretty extreme things too upon first encountering Singer’s ideas, though eventually realized that altruism is not about sacrifice.)