Thank you so much for all you have contributed, both monetarily and with this great post. Reading it reminded me of a conversation I had with my mom back in 2014 or 2015.
I first heard about EA back in 2014 when they were starting a student group at my university. I remember telling my mom about EA around that time, and one of the concepts I shared was earning to give. When hearing about it, she said something to the effect of:
That’s fantastic. I remember when I was young, the people going on mission trips were viewed as really devout and virtuous, while those who went into business were kind of looked down upon in that regard. But then it turned out that successful business people can support a lot of mission trips and other good work with the money they earn, and it’s a shame they never really got the credit for that from their peers.
This doesn’t necessarily map onto the EA landscape exactly or cleanly, but her response has influenced how I think about EA: This making the world better thing, we are in it together. And whether one’s part to play is earning to give or doing direct work or meta work or something else, a lesson we should learn from those before us is to appreciate everyone’s contribution, even when it looks different from your own work or is less conventional. (I think EtG got a lot of initial attention precisely because it is unconventional, and that it made sense for the EA community to want to adjust a public image of “EtG is all of EA.” But EtG is some of EA. Or, I think so, at least.)
Thank you so much for all you have contributed, both monetarily and with this great post. Reading it reminded me of a conversation I had with my mom back in 2014 or 2015.
I first heard about EA back in 2014 when they were starting a student group at my university. I remember telling my mom about EA around that time, and one of the concepts I shared was earning to give. When hearing about it, she said something to the effect of:
This doesn’t necessarily map onto the EA landscape exactly or cleanly, but her response has influenced how I think about EA: This making the world better thing, we are in it together. And whether one’s part to play is earning to give or doing direct work or meta work or something else, a lesson we should learn from those before us is to appreciate everyone’s contribution, even when it looks different from your own work or is less conventional. (I think EtG got a lot of initial attention precisely because it is unconventional, and that it made sense for the EA community to want to adjust a public image of “EtG is all of EA.” But EtG is some of EA. Or, I think so, at least.)