I’m a data enthusiast who grew up in one of the poorest regions of India. I now live in the US, but I visit India often and remain deeply connected to the challenges people face there. If you had the same skillset you currently do, but also had the lived experience of growing up in such an environment, how do you think that might have shaped your work or what would you do differently to contribute toward global development and effective altruism?
In a way, it’s quite to really understand and imagine—my life would probably be very different if that was the case, and I doubt that I’d have the same education, qualifications, and sometimes also skills if that was the case.
But I’d probably still be interested in something quantitative—maybe I’d apply to work at Data For India (which feels like a very close alternative to OWID), or try to work as an economist, data journalist or researcher in some way.
Maybe the most helpful thing to do, though, would be to explain some of the concrete problems people face in India to a wider audience. I think there’s often a lack of data-driven journalism from lower- and middle-income countries that actually gets communicated to a global audience, and explaining them clearly seems valuable. (I tried to do this a little with this blogpost on snakebites, but there are likely so many other areas that could be written about.)
Hi Saloni,
I’m a data enthusiast who grew up in one of the poorest regions of India. I now live in the US, but I visit India often and remain deeply connected to the challenges people face there. If you had the same skillset you currently do, but also had the lived experience of growing up in such an environment, how do you think that might have shaped your work or what would you do differently to contribute toward global development and effective altruism?
Grateful for your insights,
Kiya
Thanks for the question!
In a way, it’s quite to really understand and imagine—my life would probably be very different if that was the case, and I doubt that I’d have the same education, qualifications, and sometimes also skills if that was the case.
But I’d probably still be interested in something quantitative—maybe I’d apply to work at Data For India (which feels like a very close alternative to OWID), or try to work as an economist, data journalist or researcher in some way.
Maybe the most helpful thing to do, though, would be to explain some of the concrete problems people face in India to a wider audience. I think there’s often a lack of data-driven journalism from lower- and middle-income countries that actually gets communicated to a global audience, and explaining them clearly seems valuable. (I tried to do this a little with this blogpost on snakebites, but there are likely so many other areas that could be written about.)