Thanks for this post. I particularly agree with points 2 and 5. A related idea I’ve seen written about, though I’ve never actually encountered it in conversation, is “Earning to Skill”:
Something I [Ruby] am not hearing really at all, though it has been advocated before, is that people seek out regular industry jobs where they will grow and learn a lot. My name for this is Earning to Skill.
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Even if you predict short timelines, I’d wager that for many people, 1-3 years spent in a good industry workplace environment will cause them to have greater lifetime contribution to the world than if they scrounged around for a direct impact job that wasn’t that good.
This isn’t a universal prescription, of course. The best thing for people will immensely depend on them, their circumstances, and opportunities, but I’d at least like to hear people who are very uncertain of what to do considering Earning to Skill.
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Which industry jobs should I maybe seek out?
I think which particular domain matters less than that the job is hard and the company is competent on at least some dimensions. By hard I mean “solving hard problems like running a startup” rather than “you have to wake up at 5am”.
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What if people experience value drift and don’t ever switch to impactful work?
I think it’s a risk worth taking, but also something that can be mitigated by staying socially tied to EA.
Thanks for this post. I particularly agree with points 2 and 5. A related idea I’ve seen written about, though I’ve never actually encountered it in conversation, is “Earning to Skill”: