I get the sense from people on this forum, including CEA itself, that spreading EA is about “making EA’s”, meaning creating more heroic individuals donating big to top charities or pursuing high-impact careers, or even just involved in the movement in some way such as hosting meet-ups. Those things are all terrific, but I see the potential for spreading EA (including EA Outreach’s 2015 program) more as an effectiveness revolution: millions of people donating a little more, or a little “better”, or thinking about impact more when choosing their careers, will benefit the world much more than a couple hundred more GWWC members or movement volunteers. So when you say there’s a gap between exposure to EA and having EA as a big part of one’s life, I don’t think that is the only proxy for success: isn’t it better for EA to be a tiny part of many peoples’ lives than a big part of the lives of a few? I’m supporting Will’s book marketing, not only to maximize sales but mainly to raise his profile so as to make EA more mainstream and hopefully encourage millions of people to increase their heart footprint just a little bit.
I find that donations/volunteering/career selection is generally self-serving and people don’t even try to be effective so just nudging society to think about impact in these areas I think is a low hanging fruit we can pursue right away.
I get the sense from people on this forum, including CEA itself, that spreading EA is about “making EA’s”, meaning creating more heroic individuals donating big to top charities or pursuing high-impact careers, or even just involved in the movement in some way such as hosting meet-ups. Those things are all terrific, but I see the potential for spreading EA (including EA Outreach’s 2015 program) more as an effectiveness revolution: millions of people donating a little more, or a little “better”, or thinking about impact more when choosing their careers, will benefit the world much more than a couple hundred more GWWC members or movement volunteers. So when you say there’s a gap between exposure to EA and having EA as a big part of one’s life, I don’t think that is the only proxy for success: isn’t it better for EA to be a tiny part of many peoples’ lives than a big part of the lives of a few? I’m supporting Will’s book marketing, not only to maximize sales but mainly to raise his profile so as to make EA more mainstream and hopefully encourage millions of people to increase their heart footprint just a little bit.
I find that donations/volunteering/career selection is generally self-serving and people don’t even try to be effective so just nudging society to think about impact in these areas I think is a low hanging fruit we can pursue right away.