I wish that the effective altruism movement was instead called altruistic rationality. I can’t think of a better term than “effective altruism” for optimizing any kind of charitable giving or volunteering that most people in developed countries participate in, but it’s difficult to integrate that with the current effective altruism community, given that trying to get people to switch cause areas up front is ineffective and makes people think poorly of the movement. I support both types of activities but the fact that altruistic rationalist activities are called effective altruism, and the fact that most causes are commonly called “non-EA causes” in this movement prevents a broader effective altruism movement from forming.
I wish that the effective altruism movement was instead called altruistic rationality. I can’t think of a better term than “effective altruism” for optimizing any kind of charitable giving or volunteering that most people in developed countries participate in, but it’s difficult to integrate that with the current effective altruism community, given that trying to get people to switch cause areas up front is ineffective and makes people think poorly of the movement. I support both types of activities but the fact that altruistic rationalist activities are called effective altruism, and the fact that most causes are commonly called “non-EA causes” in this movement prevents a broader effective altruism movement from forming.