I think it’s easier than it might seem to do something net negative even ignoring opportunity cost. For example, actively compete with some other better project, interfere with politics or policy incorrectly, create a negative culture shift in the overall ecosystem, etc.
Besides, I don’t think the attitude that our primary problem is spending down the money is prudent. This is putting the cart before the horse, and as Habryka said might lead to people asking “how can I spend money quick?” rather than “how can I ambitiously do good?” EA certainly has a lot of money, but I think people underestimate how fast $50 billion can disappear if it’s mismanaged (see, for an extreme example, Enron).
I think it’s easier than it might seem to do something net negative even ignoring opportunity cost. For example, actively compete with some other better project, interfere with politics or policy incorrectly, create a negative culture shift in the overall ecosystem, etc.
Besides, I don’t think the attitude that our primary problem is spending down the money is prudent. This is putting the cart before the horse, and as Habryka said might lead to people asking “how can I spend money quick?” rather than “how can I ambitiously do good?” EA certainly has a lot of money, but I think people underestimate how fast $50 billion can disappear if it’s mismanaged (see, for an extreme example, Enron).
That’s a fair point, thank you for bringing that up :)