I am still confused whether you are talking about full-time work. I’d very much hope a full-time community builder produces more value than a donation of a couple of thousand dollars to the EA Funds.
But if you are not discussing full-time work and instead part-time activities like occasionally hosting dinners on EA related themes it makes sense to compare this to 10% donations (though I also don’t know why you are evaluating 10% donations at ~$2000, median salary in most rich countries is more than 10 times that).
But then it doesn’t make sense to compare the 10% donations and part-time activities to the very demanding direct work paths (e.g. AI safety research). Donating $2000 (or generally 10%, unless they are poor) requires way less dedication than fully focussing your career on a top priority path.
Someone who would be dedicated enough to pursue a priority path but is unable to should in many cases be able to donate way more than $2000. Let’s say they are “only” in the 90th percentile for ability in a rich country and will draw a 90th percentile salary, which is above £50,000 in the UK (source). If they have the same dedication level as someone in a top priority path they should be able to donate ~£15,000 of that. That is 10 times as much as $2000!
I was thinking of donating 10% vs. some part time work / side projects.
I agree that someone with the altruism willing to donate say 50% of their income but who isn’t able to get a top direct work job could donate more like $10k - $100k per year (depending on their earning potential, which might be high if they’re willing to do something like real estate, sales or management in a non-glamorous business).
Though I still feel like there’s a good chance there’s someone that dedicated and able could find something that produces more impact than that, given the funding situation.
I think I might prefer to have another EA civil servant than $50k per year, even if not in an especially influential position. Or I might prefer them to optimise for having a good network and then talking about EA ideas.
That makes sense, thanks for the comment.
I think you’re right looking at ex post doesn’t tell us that much.
If I try to make ex ante estimates, then I’d put someone pledging 10% at a couple of thousand dollars per year to the EA Funds or equivalent.
But I’d probably also put similar (or higher) figures on the value of the other ways of contributing above.
I am still confused whether you are talking about full-time work. I’d very much hope a full-time community builder produces more value than a donation of a couple of thousand dollars to the EA Funds.
But if you are not discussing full-time work and instead part-time activities like occasionally hosting dinners on EA related themes it makes sense to compare this to 10% donations (though I also don’t know why you are evaluating 10% donations at ~$2000, median salary in most rich countries is more than 10 times that).
But then it doesn’t make sense to compare the 10% donations and part-time activities to the very demanding direct work paths (e.g. AI safety research). Donating $2000 (or generally 10%, unless they are poor) requires way less dedication than fully focussing your career on a top priority path.
Someone who would be dedicated enough to pursue a priority path but is unable to should in many cases be able to donate way more than $2000. Let’s say they are “only” in the 90th percentile for ability in a rich country and will draw a 90th percentile salary, which is above £50,000 in the UK (source). If they have the same dedication level as someone in a top priority path they should be able to donate ~£15,000 of that. That is 10 times as much as $2000!
I was thinking of donating 10% vs. some part time work / side projects.
I agree that someone with the altruism willing to donate say 50% of their income but who isn’t able to get a top direct work job could donate more like $10k - $100k per year (depending on their earning potential, which might be high if they’re willing to do something like real estate, sales or management in a non-glamorous business).
Though I still feel like there’s a good chance there’s someone that dedicated and able could find something that produces more impact than that, given the funding situation.
I think I might prefer to have another EA civil servant than $50k per year, even if not in an especially influential position. Or I might prefer them to optimise for having a good network and then talking about EA ideas.
Thank you for providing more colour on your view, that’s useful!