Not all Effective Altruists are effective altruists and vice versa (where the capitalization means “part of the community” whereas the lowercase version means “does good effectively”).
Asking where Effective Altruists give makes sense, but checking where effective altruists are giving seems like it’s somewhat getting the causal arrow reversed. To know they are effective, you must first check which organizations are effective, and *then* you can determine that those who gave to those organizations were effective.
But I guess there’s also a more meaningful way to interpret the statement. Ex.: Where do smart strategic altruists give money? (you can still determine how smart and strategic they are in some direct ways without checking which organizations are the most effective). If you find some effective organizations first, you can also ask “Where else do those donors give” which might unveil charities you missed.
Not all Effective Altruists are effective altruists and vice versa (where the capitalization means “part of the community” whereas the lowercase version means “does good effectively”).
Asking where Effective Altruists give makes sense, but checking where effective altruists are giving seems like it’s somewhat getting the causal arrow reversed. To know they are effective, you must first check which organizations are effective, and *then* you can determine that those who gave to those organizations were effective.
But I guess there’s also a more meaningful way to interpret the statement. Ex.: Where do smart strategic altruists give money? (you can still determine how smart and strategic they are in some direct ways without checking which organizations are the most effective). If you find some effective organizations first, you can also ask “Where else do those donors give” which might unveil charities you missed.
x-post: Facebook—Effective Altruism Polls