The most common reaction I’ve heard to people who discussed their choice to pursue ETG or direct work outside of EA (for example, studying public health with an eye toward biosecurity or neglected tropical diseases) hasn’t been “okay, good for you, too bad you don’t work at an EA org”. It’s been “that’s really wonderful, congratulations!”
I’m really glad that’s been your experience and I acknowledge that maybe my experience isn’t typical.
My experience has been more pessimistic. Honestly, I usually encounter conversations that feel more like this:
Bob: “Hi, I can donate $10,000 a year to the EA movement. GiveWell says that could save 4-5 lives a year, and it’s quite possible we could even find better giving opportunities than GiveWell top charities. This is super exciting!”
Alice: “Pff, $10K/yr isn’t really that much. We don’t need that. You should do direct work instead.”
Bob: “Ok, how about I research biosecurity?”
Alice: “Nah, you’d probably mess that up. We should just let FHI handle that. We can’t talk about this further because of infohazards.”
...Obviously this is dramatized for effect, but I’ve never seen a community so excited to turn away money.
I’m really glad that’s been your experience and I acknowledge that maybe my experience isn’t typical.
My experience has been more pessimistic. Honestly, I usually encounter conversations that feel more like this:
Bob: “Hi, I can donate $10,000 a year to the EA movement. GiveWell says that could save 4-5 lives a year, and it’s quite possible we could even find better giving opportunities than GiveWell top charities. This is super exciting!”
Alice: “Pff, $10K/yr isn’t really that much. We don’t need that. You should do direct work instead.”
Bob: “Ok, how about I research biosecurity?”
Alice: “Nah, you’d probably mess that up. We should just let FHI handle that. We can’t talk about this further because of infohazards.”
...Obviously this is dramatized for effect, but I’ve never seen a community so excited to turn away money.