I think there’s a ton of obvious things that people neglect because they’re not glamorous enough:
1. Unofficially beta-test new EA stuff e.g. if someone announces something new, use it and give helpful feedback regularly 2. Volunteer to do boring stuff for impactful organisations e.g. admin 3. Deeply fact-check popular EA forum posts 4. Be a good friend to people doing things you think are awesome 5. Investigate EA aligned charities on the ground, check that they are being honest in their reporting 6. Openly criticise grifters who people fear to speak out against for fear of reprisal 7. Stay up-to-date on the needs of different people and orgs, and connect people who need connecting
I’m so glad someone wrote this. EA has real gaps caused by selecting a narrow group of people and demanding they only work on the most important things. Tasks that are unglamorous or just don’t make sense as a job duty accumulate like housekeeping when you’re sick. People who have the slack to do these without displacing a higher priority task have some highly leveraged actions available to them.
I don’t think acquiring knowledge requires brilliance, although I accept some of it is hard. I just think that at least two or three of these things would be doable for the median “mediocre” EA.
I think there’s a ton of obvious things that people neglect because they’re not glamorous enough:
1. Unofficially beta-test new EA stuff e.g. if someone announces something new, use it and give helpful feedback regularly
2. Volunteer to do boring stuff for impactful organisations e.g. admin
3. Deeply fact-check popular EA forum posts
4. Be a good friend to people doing things you think are awesome
5. Investigate EA aligned charities on the ground, check that they are being honest in their reporting
6. Openly criticise grifters who people fear to speak out against for fear of reprisal
7. Stay up-to-date on the needs of different people and orgs, and connect people who need connecting
In generally, looking for the most anxiety provoking, boring, and lowest social status work is a good way of finding impactful opportunities.
I’m so glad someone wrote this. EA has real gaps caused by selecting a narrow group of people and demanding they only work on the most important things. Tasks that are unglamorous or just don’t make sense as a job duty accumulate like housekeeping when you’re sick. People who have the slack to do these without displacing a higher priority task have some highly leveraged actions available to them.
Indeed, 3, 5, and 6 may be easier / more effective if you’re not in a “professional EA” job or expecting to get one.
some of them (3, 5, 6, 7) already need quite a bit of knowledge. I am not saying they are not worth doing!
I don’t think acquiring knowledge requires brilliance, although I accept some of it is hard. I just think that at least two or three of these things would be doable for the median “mediocre” EA.