Just scrolling down the Community page and found this older quick take. I wanted to throw in an “agree from personal experience” comment. I wasn’t targeted, i.e., I found EA organically by looking up related terms when I was 22. But I really wish I found it when I was 5-10 years older! I think I jumped the gun financially on some donations and personally-funded projects in ways that made me overly vulnerable and less effective.
I took on some debt to self-fund some of my philanthropy advising and career exploration, and that made an exit from an EA group house and an exit from an EA organization both much more stressful than they otherwise would have been. I naively ignored how my lack of financial power could affect these relationships because I generalized the community as “high trust.” I accepted surprising things in both situations that were very unfavourable medium-term and long-term, because they were short-term safer financially during a period of several major overlapping stressors.
Even though I have a sense of urgency around effective cause areas and I want to move on them, I am making myself develop a stable financial position before I reengage—at least as stable as the median highly-engaged EA.
Just scrolling down the Community page and found this older quick take. I wanted to throw in an “agree from personal experience” comment. I wasn’t targeted, i.e., I found EA organically by looking up related terms when I was 22. But I really wish I found it when I was 5-10 years older! I think I jumped the gun financially on some donations and personally-funded projects in ways that made me overly vulnerable and less effective.
I took on some debt to self-fund some of my philanthropy advising and career exploration, and that made an exit from an EA group house and an exit from an EA organization both much more stressful than they otherwise would have been. I naively ignored how my lack of financial power could affect these relationships because I generalized the community as “high trust.” I accepted surprising things in both situations that were very unfavourable medium-term and long-term, because they were short-term safer financially during a period of several major overlapping stressors.
Even though I have a sense of urgency around effective cause areas and I want to move on them, I am making myself develop a stable financial position before I reengage—at least as stable as the median highly-engaged EA.