For me the reputational risks that Jack Lewars mentioned worry me a lot. Like how will the media portray effective altruism in the future? We’re definitely going be seen as less sympathetic in leftist circles, being funded by billionaires and all.
I don’t have a satisfying answer to this that calms my worries, but one response could be that the the damage done to the reputation of EA won’t outweigh the good being done by all the money that goes to good causes.
Another concern for me is how this will change what type of people we’ll attract to the movement. In the past the movement attracted people who were willing to live on a small amount of money because they care so much about others in this world. Now I’m worried that there will be more people who are less aligned with the values, who are in it at least partly for the money.
Don’t have a good answer to this. Perhaps just that I’m overestimating the scale of this happening.
In another way it feels unfair. Why do I get to ask for 10k with a good chance of success, while friends of mine struggling with money who aren’t EA aligned can’t? I don’t feel any more special or deserving than them in a way. I feel unfairly privileged somehow.
Stefan Schubert worded it well: “I think it’s better to look at a global scale—and on such a scale, most people in the West are doing relatively well. So I don’t think that’s the group we should be worried about neglecting.”
There’s also this icky feeling I get with accepting money: what if my project isn’t better than cash transfers to the extreme poor? Even if the probabilities of success are high enough, the thought of just “wasting money” while it could have gone to extremely poor people massively improving their lives just saddens me.
This is just me being risk averse. Even if an EV calculation works out, it’s difficult shake off the uncomfortable feeling of potentially being one of the unsuccesful projects as part of hits-based giving.
My personal responses to these:
I don’t have a satisfying answer to this that calms my worries, but one response could be that the the damage done to the reputation of EA won’t outweigh the good being done by all the money that goes to good causes.
Don’t have a good answer to this. Perhaps just that I’m overestimating the scale of this happening.
Stefan Schubert worded it well: “I think it’s better to look at a global scale—and on such a scale, most people in the West are doing relatively well. So I don’t think that’s the group we should be worried about neglecting.”
This is just me being risk averse. Even if an EV calculation works out, it’s difficult shake off the uncomfortable feeling of potentially being one of the unsuccesful projects as part of hits-based giving.