Hi, I’m newish to EA and new (as of today) to the forum! I use she/her/hers pronouns and I’m a college freshman. I’ve recently been thinking a lot about how I can use my career to help. AI safety technical research seems like the best option for me from the couple hours of research I’ve done. I’m planning to donate all my disposable income to the EA meta fund. I’m really passionate about doing as much good as I can, and I’m excited to have found a community that shares that! My biggest stumbling block has recently been my mental health, so if anybody has resources/tips they want to share, I’d love to hear them (for reference, I am actively getting treatment, so no worries there)!
I’m planning to donate all my disposable income to the EA meta fund.
I think it’s good to donate a bit of money to good causes to help build good virtues, but at your current life/career stage you should probably focus on spending money in ways that make you better at doing good work later.
I’m planning to donate all my disposable income to the EA meta fund.
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My biggest stumbling block has recently been my mental health, so if anybody has resources/tips they want to share, I’d love to hear them (for reference, I am actively getting treatment, so no worries there)!
Similar to what Linch said, another useful perspective comes from in this post which says the value of your time might be higher than you think. At the same time, your earnings are probably lower right now than they will be.
With this perspective, you might be better off spending the money on yourself given the personal needs you mentioned. For example, regular cleaning or relaxing travel probably helps mental health for many.
Hi, I’m newish to EA and new (as of today) to the forum! I use she/her/hers pronouns and I’m a college freshman. I’ve recently been thinking a lot about how I can use my career to help. AI safety technical research seems like the best option for me from the couple hours of research I’ve done. I’m planning to donate all my disposable income to the EA meta fund. I’m really passionate about doing as much good as I can, and I’m excited to have found a community that shares that! My biggest stumbling block has recently been my mental health, so if anybody has resources/tips they want to share, I’d love to hear them (for reference, I am actively getting treatment, so no worries there)!
If you’re looking for resources on mental health, you might enjoy some of the upvoted posts under the self-care tag, including Mental Health Resources Tailored for EAs and Resources on Mental Health and Finding a Therapist.
Welcome to the Forum!
I think it’s good to donate a bit of money to good causes to help build good virtues, but at your current life/career stage you should probably focus on spending money in ways that make you better at doing good work later.
See this blog post for some considerations.
Similar to what Linch said, another useful perspective comes from in this post which says the value of your time might be higher than you think. At the same time, your earnings are probably lower right now than they will be.
With this perspective, you might be better off spending the money on yourself given the personal needs you mentioned. For example, regular cleaning or relaxing travel probably helps mental health for many.
It is wonderful you are working to help others.