I think buying many lottery tickets is similar to many people working on x-risks, but if you’re passing your donations/​grants through a lottery first, you might significantly decrease the probability of making any difference with that money. In some cases, you might not, if you can almost guarantee an impact with the extra money. I could imagine it not changing the probability that the money helps farmed animals too much if the alternative was donating directly to a big animal charity.
OTOH, people should worry about decreasing marginal returns with the money.
I think buying many lottery tickets is similar to many people working on x-risks, but if you’re passing your donations/​grants through a lottery first, you might significantly decrease the probability of making any difference with that money. In some cases, you might not, if you can almost guarantee an impact with the extra money. I could imagine it not changing the probability that the money helps farmed animals too much if the alternative was donating directly to a big animal charity.
OTOH, people should worry about decreasing marginal returns with the money.