EA organizations that have âeffective altruismâ in their name or make it a key part of their messaging might want to consider de-emphasizing the EA brand.
I agree with this. I write about lots of EA-related work (e.g. for the EA Newsletter), and it often feels difficult not to use the term âeffective altruismâ so often that it feels way too self-promotional or something. Iâd be happy to see a wider range of charity names, project names, subcommunity names, etc.
In general, it feels weirdly difficult to separate agreement with EA ideas from the EA identity. The way we use the term, being an EA or not is often framed as a binary choice, and itâs often unclear whether one identifies as part of the community or agrees with its ideas.
This feels like a common difficulty for many social movements (though many of those movements embrace the phenomenon, since they want wholehearted âbelieversâ in a way we arenât as concerned with).
My personal solution is to say âI try to practice effective altruismâ or âI try to follow the principles of effective altruismâ â using âtryâ as a way to indicate that I donât think Iâm doing a perfect job. The second of these is probably better (albeit longer), since âthe principles of effective altruismâ are a different thing than EA as a whole.
I also avoid using the phrase âeffective altruistâ whenever possible, especially when doing public communication (I think it should just about only be used when people will know it as shorthand for âpeople in this communityâ). Iâd be really happy if other people used the phrase less.
I agree with this. I write about lots of EA-related work (e.g. for the EA Newsletter), and it often feels difficult not to use the term âeffective altruismâ so often that it feels way too self-promotional or something. Iâd be happy to see a wider range of charity names, project names, subcommunity names, etc.
This feels like a common difficulty for many social movements (though many of those movements embrace the phenomenon, since they want wholehearted âbelieversâ in a way we arenât as concerned with).
My personal solution is to say âI try to practice effective altruismâ or âI try to follow the principles of effective altruismâ â using âtryâ as a way to indicate that I donât think Iâm doing a perfect job. The second of these is probably better (albeit longer), since âthe principles of effective altruismâ are a different thing than EA as a whole.
I also avoid using the phrase âeffective altruistâ whenever possible, especially when doing public communication (I think it should just about only be used when people will know it as shorthand for âpeople in this communityâ). Iâd be really happy if other people used the phrase less.