Effective altruism culture

TagLast edit: 25 May 2022 10:48 UTC by Leo

Effective altruism culture is the set of norms and beliefs of the effective altruism community.

Related entries

building effective altruism | criticism of the effective altruism community | discussion norms | philosophy of effective altruism

Deference Culture in EA

Joey🔸7 Jun 2022 14:21 UTC

153 points

23 comments5 min readEA link

Power dynamics between people in EA

Julia_Wise🔸1 Jun 2022 20:50 UTC

491 points

15 comments8 min readEA link

EA culture is special; we should proceed with intentionality

James Lin21 May 2022 21:55 UTC

86 points

7 comments10 min readEA link

Advice to my EA newcomer self

Sam Anschell14 Apr 2025 17:32 UTC

98 points

3 comments6 min readEA link

Bad Omens in Current Community Building

Theo Hawking12 May 2022 15:41 UTC

595 points

132 comments18 min readEA link

Free-spending EA might be a big problem for optics and epistemics

George Rosenfeld12 Apr 2022 20:30 UTC

562 points

186 comments8 min readEA link

The Effective Altruism culture

PabloAMC 🔸17 Apr 2022 1:23 UTC

35 points

5 comments4 min readEA link

The Many Faces of Effective Altruism

Devin Kalish18 May 2022 19:23 UTC

89 points

17 comments5 min readEA link

We all teach: here’s how to do it better

Michael Noetel 🔸30 Sep 2022 2:06 UTC

179 points

12 comments24 min readEA link

Structural Flaws in the EA Movement

Leo_17 Jul 2025 14:23 UTC

10 points

16 comments50 min readEA link

Say “nay!” to the Bay (as the default)!

Kaleem6 Sep 2022 12:58 UTC

89 points

26 comments9 min readEA link

Some reasons to uphold norms that are common in other communities

AnonymousGuest17 Jan 2023 15:29 UTC

29 points

2 comments4 min readEA link

Consider Not Changing Your Forum Username to Your Real Name

electroswing28 Apr 2022 1:42 UTC

76 points

17 comments3 min readEA link

The extraordinary value of ordinary norms

EmilyTench8 Nov 2017 17:34 UTC

42 points

7 comments12 min readEA link

Keeping the effective altruist movement welcoming

Owen Cotton-Barratt7 Feb 2014 1:21 UTC

17 points

1 comment4 min readEA link

The role of tribes in achieving lasting impact and how to create them

nora29 Sep 2021 20:48 UTC

72 points

2 comments24 min readEA link

Please don’t criticize EAs who “sell out” to OpenAI and Anthropic

Eevee🔹5 Mar 2023 21:17 UTC

−4 points

21 comments2 min readEA link

Multiple Working Hypotheses: A Reminder from My Kids

Amy Labenz23 Sep 2024 20:33 UTC

92 points

18 comments2 min readEA link

How to be more agentic

Vasco Grilo🔸18 Jul 2025 16:42 UTC

28 points

2 comments6 min readEA link

(usefulfictions.substack.com)

Making Effective Altruism Enormous

Davidmanheim24 Jul 2022 13:29 UTC

173 points

37 comments9 min readEA link

Don’t Over-Optimize Things

Owen Cotton-Barratt16 Jun 2022 16:28 UTC

60 points

7 comments4 min readEA link

EA is more than longtermism

frances_lorenz3 May 2022 15:18 UTC

160 points

99 comments5 min readEA link

Forget replaceability? (for ~community projects)

Owen Cotton-Barratt31 Mar 2021 14:41 UTC

75 points

25 comments6 min readEA link

EA is good, actually

Amy Labenz28 Nov 2023 15:59 UTC

272 points

15 comments4 min readEA link

What are we as the EA community?

Nathan Young25 May 2022 11:29 UTC

29 points

5 comments7 min readEA link

Making EA groups more welcoming

Julia_Wise🔸29 Jul 2016 1:09 UTC

30 points

13 comments11 min readEA link

Do you want to work in the new Boston EA office at Harvard Square?

Kaleem12 May 2022 19:27 UTC

101 points

8 comments3 min readEA link

Everyday Longtermism

Owen Cotton-Barratt1 Jan 2021 17:39 UTC

159 points

29 comments9 min readEA link

Brainstorming ways to make EA safer and more inclusive

richard_ngo15 Nov 2022 11:14 UTC

149 points

97 comments1 min readEA link

The EA movement needs to be able to disown rogue “supporters”, starting with Musk

drbrake 🔸24 Feb 2025 2:30 UTC

10 points

21 comments2 min readEA link

Keep EA high-trust

Michael_PJ22 Dec 2022 14:58 UTC

164 points

46 comments4 min readEA link

On Owning Our EA Affiliation

Alix Pham5 Aug 2024 14:46 UTC

338 points

43 comments4 min readEA link

Supportive scepticism in practice

Michelle_Hutchinson15 Jan 2015 16:35 UTC

41 points

23 comments8 min readEA link

Perils of optimizing in social contexts

Owen Cotton-Barratt16 Jun 2022 17:23 UTC

124 points

1 comment2 min readEA link

Appreciating Stable Support Roles at EA Orgs

Amy Labenz30 Sep 2024 17:49 UTC

184 points

4 comments2 min readEA link

[Question] What are your main reservations about identifying as an effective altruist?

richard_ngo30 Mar 2021 9:55 UTC

91 points

24 comments1 min readEA link

Web of virtue thesis [research note]

Owen Cotton-Barratt1 Jan 2021 16:21 UTC

57 points

1 comment9 min readEA link

Considering Considerateness: Why communities of do-gooders should be exceptionally considerate

Stefan_Schubert31 May 2017 22:41 UTC

58 points

15 comments1 min readEA link

[Question] What community norm would you most like to see added, removed or acknolwedged within EA?

Nathan Young2 Nov 2021 11:59 UTC

20 points

11 comments1 min readEA link

In (mild) defence of the social/professional overlap in EA

Amber Dawn9 Feb 2023 15:05 UTC

104 points

55 comments6 min readEA link

[Question] Is it okay to ask someone to proofread a job application?

Dawn Drescher1 Apr 2023 17:31 UTC

9 points

4 comments1 min readEA link

The Community Manifesto

ATW31 Aug 2022 23:44 UTC

26 points

10 comments61 min readEA link

[Link] How effective altruists ignored risk

Milan Griffes6 Feb 2023 7:40 UTC

23 points

22 comments1 min readEA link

Aesthetics as Epistemic Humility

Étienne Fortier-Dubois22 Aug 2022 17:00 UTC

47 points

6 comments13 min readEA link

(etiennefd.substack.com)

EA’s Biggest Missed Opportunity: Mark Zuckerberg

Trappist16 Jan 2025 12:36 UTC

17 points

8 comments7 min readEA link

A Million Is Made Out Of A Million Ones

Bentham's Bulldog8 Aug 2025 20:15 UTC

43 points

3 comments6 min readEA link

“Doing Good” is not a Mission

Cat🔸28 Feb 2025 14:28 UTC

14 points

2 comments21 min readEA link

Altruistic perfectionism, burnout, and moral demandingness

Mark McDonald26 Mar 2025 23:49 UTC

5 points

2 comments3 min readEA link

Announcing the 2025 Effective Altruism Donor Lottery: A Monumental Opportunity

Milan Griffes1 Apr 2025 17:49 UTC

13 points

2 comments1 min readEA link

What a Large and Welcoming EA Could Accomplish

Peter Elam22 Aug 2022 12:17 UTC

12 points

2 comments5 min readEA link

Quantitative Mindset (Effective Altruism Definitions Sequence)

ozymandias1 Aug 2025 17:45 UTC

32 points

2 comments7 min readEA link

Let us know how psychology can help increase your impact

Inga21 Oct 2022 10:32 UTC

30 points

0 comments1 min readEA link

How ForumMagnum builds communities of inquiry

Jim Fisher4 Sep 2023 20:20 UTC

5 points

0 comments1 min readEA link

(www.lesswrong.com)

The role of academia in AI Safety.

PabloAMC 🔸28 Mar 2022 0:04 UTC

71 points

19 comments3 min readEA link

Notes on cultivating good incentives

rime7 Jul 2023 20:07 UTC

4 points

0 comments1 min readEA link

[Question] is this golfist repulsive?

Mikolaj Kniejski17 Oct 2025 18:29 UTC

3 points

0 comments1 min readEA link

(Re)considering the Aesthetics of EA

ukc1001420 May 2022 15:01 UTC

24 points

4 comments6 min readEA link

Empathy-altruism and Altruistic Personality

idea2110 Oct 2025 1:34 UTC

3 points

0 comments3 min readEA link

Why Wasting EA Money is Bad

Jordan Arel22 Sep 2022 1:45 UTC

47 points

20 comments5 min readEA link

The Unparalleled Awesomeness of Effective Altruism Conferences

Bentham's Bulldog9 Jun 2025 15:17 UTC

158 points

4 comments6 min readEA link

Ways the world is getting better—discussion thread

Toby Tremlett🔹20 Jan 2025 8:34 UTC

51 points

23 comments1 min readEA link

Effective Altruism Network Funding Guidelines

James Norris7 Feb 2025 3:51 UTC

0 points

1 comment8 min readEA link

The Multiple Butterfly Effect

Trev Prew11 Sep 2022 4:19 UTC

4 points

1 comment2 min readEA link

The privilege of native English speakers in reaching high-status, influential positions in EA

Alix Pham20 Dec 2023 21:07 UTC

149 points

38 comments4 min readEA link

[Question] Whose transparency can we celebrate?

leillustrations🔸12 Oct 2024 3:35 UTC

87 points

9 comments1 min readEA link

Reasons against donating to Lightcone Infrastructure

MikhailSamin2 Nov 2025 8:51 UTC

−8 points

7 comments6 min readEA link

Unweirding Boards: What’s The Problem?

Stephen Robcraft9 Sep 2025 9:18 UTC

16 points

1 comment7 min readEA link

How to deal with conflict in EA?

Ariel Pontes17 Nov 2022 8:49 UTC

26 points

5 comments5 min readEA link

EA Adjacency as FTX Trauma

Mjreard8 Apr 2025 19:14 UTC

234 points

28 comments9 min readEA link

Disciplined iconoclasm

Yarrow Bouchard 🔸3 Nov 2025 22:30 UTC

25 points

22 comments7 min readEA link

[Question] Women and non-binary EAs, are you interested in a networking group with professional advancement activities?

Spencer R. Ericson4 May 2023 18:34 UTC

18 points

3 comments1 min readEA link

On Elitism in EA

James Lin22 Jul 2022 19:35 UTC

36 points

17 comments4 min readEA link

🎨 Altruist Dreams—a collaborative art piece from EAG SF

samstowers17 Sep 2022 4:40 UTC

98 points

5 comments1 min readEA link

Austin Chen on “Winning” and SBF

TimothyTelleenLawton9 Apr 2025 14:54 UTC

14 points

2 comments1 min readEA link

On deference to funders

abrahamrowe3 Mar 2025 18:23 UTC

271 points

13 comments7 min readEA link

Open Letter to EA

Oscar Galvin19 Oct 2022 14:14 UTC

13 points

7 comments24 min readEA link

(seethroughnews.org)

Prioritizing Mental Health: A Call to Action for the Effective Altruism Community

MichaelRipa26 Jul 2024 12:43 UTC

17 points

0 comments9 min readEA link

Grantmakers should give more feedback

Ariel Pontes22 Jan 2024 13:22 UTC

78 points

23 comments7 min readEA link

EA is bad for mental health (and I’m tired of pretending it’s not)

VictorW31 Oct 2024 14:58 UTC

24 points

24 comments21 min readEA link

I’m an EA who benefitted from rationality

Julia_Wise🔸13 Oct 2025 17:18 UTC

120 points

2 comments2 min readEA link

Why you can justify almost anything using historical social movements

JamesÖz 🔸24 Apr 2025 10:55 UTC

268 points

12 comments4 min readEA link

Debate Poll: Some Positions In EA Leadership Should Be Elected

Joseph_Chu30 Apr 2025 19:12 UTC

24 points

32 comments1 min readEA link

What if I’m not open to feedback?

frances_lorenz1 Apr 2025 11:55 UTC

155 points

15 comments1 min readEA link

Buying Good: Insights from the Moral Marketplace

Ethan Spencer24 Apr 2025 12:49 UTC

1 point

0 comments4 min readEA link

Open Letter to Young EAs

Leif Wenar11 Oct 2024 16:15 UTC

14 points

44 comments1 min readEA link

Maybe We Aren’t Stubborn Enough

emre kaplan🔸8 Apr 2025 0:40 UTC

138 points

7 comments2 min readEA link

Request for Guidance: Following Timeline After Charity Didn’t Object

VettedCauses9 Apr 2025 22:58 UTC

13 points

23 comments2 min readEA link

Most people should probably feel safe most of the time

Kaj_Sotala9 May 2023 9:41 UTC

26 points

1 comment10 min readEA link

Overthinking “Only Be a Story”

Mica White17 Jul 2022 22:53 UTC

6 points

0 comments4 min readEA link

Giving more has made me less generous

Christopher Clay11 Mar 2025 14:30 UTC

52 points

7 comments2 min readEA link

Community building: Is optimizing for “effectiveness” the most effective approach?

Solal 🔸1 Jul 2025 13:52 UTC

16 points

3 comments6 min readEA link

Don’t accuse your interlocutor of being insufficiently truth-seeking

TFD30 Apr 2025 19:42 UTC

12 points

6 comments2 min readEA link

(www.thefloatingdroid.com)

Things that can make EA a good place for women

lilly6 Apr 2023 17:09 UTC

183 points

30 comments6 min readEA link

Issue with AI alignment—diversity of opinions as competetive advantage? (as opposed to echo chambers)

Mars Robertson30 Aug 2023 9:44 UTC

1 point

5 comments2 min readEA link

FTX: Let’s not throw stones

Grayden 🔸14 Nov 2022 22:54 UTC

34 points

2 comments1 min readEA link

Terms to clarify when discussing EA

Peter444413 Jun 2022 10:46 UTC

9 points

0 comments1 min readEA link

Some hardworking dads in EA

Julia_Wise🔸13 Nov 2025 2:45 UTC

174 points

7 comments2 min readEA link

(juliawise.net)

Why Many EAs Probably Undervalue Their Happiness

emily.fan20 Oct 2025 6:47 UTC

23 points

3 comments7 min readEA link

If you fail, you will still be loved and can be happy; a love letter to all EAs

howdoyousay?24 Jul 2022 10:09 UTC

70 points

7 comments5 min readEA link

EA Has a Branding Problem

Zoe L5 Nov 2025 14:01 UTC

26 points

18 comments2 min readEA link

Starting the EA Values Project

EAvalues🔸19 Feb 2025 13:40 UTC

5 points

1 comment2 min readEA link

[[Survey launch]] Gender in EA

GSand25 Jan 2023 5:24 UTC

22 points

6 comments1 min readEA link

Some core assumptions of effective altruism, according to me

peterhartree29 Jul 2022 9:05 UTC

91 points

9 comments6 min readEA link

Consider working more hours and taking more stimulants

Arjun Panickssery15 Dec 2022 20:38 UTC

71 points

23 comments4 min readEA link

Buying Good: Effective Altruism and the Moral Marketplace

Ethan Spencer17 Apr 2025 14:09 UTC

6 points

1 comment8 min readEA link

[Question] What are some measurable proxies for EA community health?

michel14 Jul 2022 6:26 UTC

32 points

8 comments1 min readEA link

The Missing Heart of Longtermism: Why Human Values Must Ground Our Concern for the Far Future

EAvalues🔸16 Oct 2025 16:54 UTC

7 points

0 comments12 min readEA link

EA is Not Religious Enough (EA should emulate peak Quakerism)

Lawrence Newport1 Oct 2022 10:55 UTC

111 points

25 comments8 min readEA link

(precedents.substack.com)

Buying Good: Symbolic Capital in the Moral Marketplace

Ethan Spencer23 Apr 2025 13:11 UTC

1 point

0 comments6 min readEA link

Ambition (Effective Altruism Definitions Series)

ozymandias14 Aug 2025 0:17 UTC

17 points

4 comments5 min readEA link

Request for Guidance: Reaching Out to Charities Before Publishing Reviews and Our Concerns

VettedCauses21 Feb 2025 13:59 UTC

56 points

55 comments4 min readEA link

[Question] Is EA half AI?

AndreuAndreu6 Nov 2025 19:07 UTC

18 points

13 comments1 min readEA link

EA university groups are missing out on most of their potential

JohanEA7 Jan 2023 12:44 UTC

52 points

15 comments30 min readEA link

Escaping the Anxiety Trap

Pseudanon19 Feb 2025 12:36 UTC

93 points

2 comments9 min readEA link

Rationalism and EA on the “Behind the Bastards” Podcast

Flo 🔸21 Mar 2025 9:45 UTC

36 points

2 comments1 min readEA link

EA Core Skillset

JP Addison🔸4 Mar 2025 22:28 UTC

79 points

9 comments2 min readEA link

How do fictional stories illustrate AI misalignment?

Vishakha Agrawal15 Jan 2025 6:16 UTC

4 points

0 comments2 min readEA link

(aisafety.info)

Embracing Selfishness

ryanbloom14 Jan 2023 21:36 UTC

10 points

1 comment6 min readEA link

(ryan-bloom.com)

Longtermism VS Neartermism: Are we being long-winded or short-sighted?

Prof.Weird4 Feb 2022 9:08 UTC

−2 points

0 comments4 min readEA link

Some thoughts on Scaling

DavidXYu10 May 2022 20:14 UTC

22 points

2 comments4 min readEA link

Room Full of Strangers

Rockwell2 Mar 2025 1:49 UTC

118 points

3 comments2 min readEA link

Is my blog too provocative for a group organizer?

Ariel Pontes10 Jul 2022 13:51 UTC

22 points

4 comments4 min readEA link

The 3rd wave of EA is coming—what does it mean for you?

Jakob19 Aug 2022 13:47 UTC

44 points

4 comments5 min readEA link

Should every strategy be publicly intelligible?

conflictaverse3 Mar 2025 16:12 UTC

20 points

6 comments2 min readEA link

[Question] Effective altruism is asking a lot of questions, finding answers and doing little action.

Lutebemberwa Isa1 Mar 2025 20:43 UTC

−7 points

0 comments1 min readEA link

Marginal Revolution: Effective Altruists and Finance Theory

incredibleutility29 Oct 2024 14:32 UTC

2 points

2 comments1 min readEA link

(marginalrevolution.com)

Is ChatGPT (quietly) changing how we do EA — and should we be worried or optimistic?

charlesr16 Jun 2025 8:27 UTC

24 points

7 comments1 min readEA link

Four Ideas You Already Agree With

SamDeere27 Jul 2022 23:09 UTC

62 points

18 comments6 min readEA link

(www.givingwhatwecan.org)

Quatro Ideias Com as Quais Você Já Concorda

AE Brasil / EA Brazil19 Jul 2023 18:08 UTC

4 points

0 comments6 min readEA link

Effective Altruism Network Governance System

James Norris7 Feb 2025 3:50 UTC

1 point

0 comments2 min readEA link

When you should not write on the EA Forum

meugen24 Feb 2025 3:08 UTC

18 points

3 comments1 min readEA link

The Paradox of Ineffective Egoism in Effective Altruism

keivn1 Nov 2025 21:21 UTC

4 points

10 comments1 min readEA link

Guided by the Beauty of One’s Philosophies: Why Aesthetics Matter

Étienne Fortier-Dubois15 May 2022 16:38 UTC

165 points

52 comments15 min readEA link

(classicalfuturist.substack.com)

[Linkpost] [Summary] The Guardian: Is the effective altruism movement in trouble? (FTX related opinion piece)

David Varga16 Nov 2022 12:10 UTC

27 points

7 comments1 min readEA link

(www.theguardian.com)

#204 – Making sense of SBF, and his biggest critiques of effective altruism (Nate Silver on The 80,000 Hours Podcast)

80000_Hours17 Oct 2024 20:41 UTC

22 points

2 comments14 min readEA link

Human Biodiversity (Part 4: Astral Codex Ten)

Evan_Gaensbauer3 Nov 2024 4:20 UTC

−1 points

26 comments1 min readEA link

(reflectivealtruism.com)

Making it easier for decision-makers to give feedback

Catherine Low🔸27 Sep 2024 1:13 UTC

92 points

4 comments5 min readEA link

Where Are the Older People in Our Movement?

Ronen Bar14 Mar 2025 13:05 UTC

51 points

12 comments1 min readEA link

Consider Changing Your Forum Username to Your Real Name

Patrick Gruban 🔸26 Apr 2022 17:07 UTC

72 points

30 comments1 min readEA link

I am sad.

frin8 Apr 2025 21:16 UTC

31 points

3 comments1 min readEA link

Cumulative Value and Instantaneous value

ArthurF24 Jan 2025 10:49 UTC

6 points

3 comments2 min readEA link

Does EA discourse need all that philosophy lingo?

Taimur Abdaal22 Mar 2025 10:28 UTC

26 points

4 comments2 min readEA link

Free-Wheeling, Personality-Driven EA Conversations

Mjreard7 Oct 2025 2:51 UTC

109 points

2 comments2 min readEA link

Spending on Ourselves

Jeff Kaufman 🔸20 Apr 2025 19:31 UTC

65 points

0 comments3 min readEA link

Stefan_Schubert 18 Apr 2022 11:18 UTC
2 points
0 ∶ 0
Potentially “effective altruist norms” or “community norms” would be be better. It would fit with the discussion norms tag, which could be seen as a part of this tag.
Related concepts are principles and virtues (see also LessWrong on virtues).