Effective Altruism
View: Effective altruism; Confidence: High; Importance: High
I support the Effective Altruism movement for conventional reasons. My family primarily donates to two organizations:
- Evidence Action to support mass deworming; and
- The Good Food Institute to support alternative proteins.
Last year, my family donated about $2,500 to these two causes. I see myself as contributing in other ways. I previously had a higher-paying consulting job, but accepted a pay-cut to shift to a more mission-driven role. I work very hard to ensure I am a better-than-replacement employee. As a natalist, I also view supporting and taking care of my two children as altruistic. Lastly, I “volunteer” by writing lots of informative content on the internet, which I believe is the highest-impact thing I can do in my spare time.
There are lots of things that I do not do. I am not a vegetarian. Also, our donations are actually a very small percentage of our household income, well-below the 10% Giving What We Can pledge. I hope to do better in 2022.
Note on Vegetarianism
So far in 2022, I have been keeping vegetarian. I’ve still been eating dairy products. I’ve also eaten mussels a couple times. I don’t feel conflicted about eating mussels, because I do not think they are sentient.