Thanks for clarifying – I basically agree with all of this. I particularly agree that the “government job” idea needs a lot more careful thinking and may not turn out to be as great as one might think.
I think our main disagreement might be that I think that donating large amounts effectively requires an understanding of EA ideas and altruistic dedication that only a small number of people are ever likely to develop, so I don’t see the “impact through donations” route as an unusually strong argument for doing EA messaging in a particular direction or having a very large movement. And I consider the fact that some people can have very impactful careers a pretty strong argument for emphasizing the careers angle a bit more than the donation angle (though we should keep communicating both).
(Disclaimer: Written very quickly.)
I also edited my original comment (added a paragraph at the top) to make this clearer; I think my previous comment kind of missed the point.
Thanks for clarifying – I basically agree with all of this. I particularly agree that the “government job” idea needs a lot more careful thinking and may not turn out to be as great as one might think.
I think our main disagreement might be that I think that donating large amounts effectively requires an understanding of EA ideas and altruistic dedication that only a small number of people are ever likely to develop, so I don’t see the “impact through donations” route as an unusually strong argument for doing EA messaging in a particular direction or having a very large movement. And I consider the fact that some people can have very impactful careers a pretty strong argument for emphasizing the careers angle a bit more than the donation angle (though we should keep communicating both).
(Disclaimer: Written very quickly.)
I also edited my original comment (added a paragraph at the top) to make this clearer; I think my previous comment kind of missed the point.