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.
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!