There seems to be a sense in effective altruism that the existence of one organization working on a given problem means that the problem is now properly addressed. The thought appears to be: ‘(Organization) exists, so the space of evaluating (organization function) is filled and the problem is therefore taken care of.’
Organizations are just a few people working on a problem together, with some slightly better infrastructure, stable funding, and time. The problems we’re working on are too big for a handful of people to fix, and the fact that a handful of people are working in a given space doesn’t suggest that others shouldn’t work on it too. I’d like to see more recognition of the conceptual distinction between the existence of an organization with a certain mission, and what exactly is and is not being done to accomplish that mission. We could use more volunteers/partners to EA organizations, or even separate organizations addressing the same issue(s) using a different epistemology.
To encourage this, I’d love to see more support for individuals doing great projects who are better suited to the flexibility of doing work independently of any organization, or who otherwise don’t fit a hole in an organization.
Anonymous #32(d):