I graduated from Carnegie Mellon in â22 with a BS in Information Systems and minors in Economics/âSoftware Engineering.
I currently work as a Software Engineer at a mid-sized medical company and advise family members on their donations.
Iâm interested in reducing suffering!
Nithin Raviđ¸
Karma: 180
Iâve been pondering this question for a while and have managed to find a neartermist intervention which actually has positive flow-through effects on animal welfare!
Family Planning:Increases womenâs health, wellness, and educational outcomes
Popular in left-leaning US political discourse (womenâs rights, reproductive rights, etc..)
Comparable to top neartermist interventions at reducing human suffering
[Likely] Reduces the number of human life years on earth
Family Empowerment Media has gained popularity as a family planning intervention but I have yet to look deeper on other organizations!
I know this is a dated reply but re: following up on street outreach campaigns, We The Free has developed a portal that tracks behavior changes. Iâm not sure on usage rates, but could be good to follow up with them if interested! https://ââwww.activism.wtf/ââ
Thanks for sharing more detailed writeups on some of your grants!
Thanks for elaborating! Thatâs very helpful to understand and certainly strengthens the case for giving now (in the sense of power/âcapital transfer to other altruists).
Ah, good point! One confounding factor for me is that my primary cause area is animal welfare. In this realm, I am curious if the idea of a power transfer to those less fortunate is relevant. Perhaps if nonhuman animals are given a stake in policy in the long run, this could be true.
Great point that the counterfactual to my question is not always investment! (i.e. I can reduce consumption to increase my donations, rather than decreasing my investments) For context, I am already very bought in to GWWC (signed the pledge!), the life you can save, etc⌠I am just trying to be truth seeking in what I should be using funds for. Perhaps there is some truth to needing fundamental systems change rather than just neartermist effective giving to revamp long-term power structures.
Side note: Iâm simply using power transfer as a proxy for âvoice in the worldâ. Unfortunately, given current systems wealth is our means of power. If philanthropy leaves more room for capital gains with non-altruistic actors, then this suggests I should completely revamp my theory of change! (perhaps towards something like international tax code reform?)
Tell me more! Why do you think this is true? Do you have anything to read further on the topic?
Ah I see, I guess this is a difference in thinking or perhaps a misunderstanding on my part! My mental model for charitable contributions is kind of:
Giving money to philanthropy is a non-compounding effect. Kind of a one and done contribution.
But, what Iâm hearing you say is that charitable contributions continue to compound value (perhaps through flow-through effects?). Do you have any data/âresearch to back up the compounding effect of charity? Iâm curious to learn more.
Also, charitable organizations need continuous influx of capital to keep operating. If I give, how is this not a âone and doneâ contribution given that the organization would need more capital to continue operating. I guess Iâm still having difficulty understanding, where is the compounding nature of charity?
[Question] Does PhilanÂthropy at a High-Level Create CounÂterÂfacÂtual ImÂpact Given Fungibility
For those who experience broken link on arbital (after selecting the path on arbital), I found the 3blue1brown video on bayes theorem to also be very helpful!
Iâm excited to see where animal inclusive longtermism can go and what interventions begin to develop in this space.
Awesome! Would love for more of the Arabic world to be exposed to these ideas. Do you have data on website views segmented by language?