You can do this by writing, organizing, talking to people you know, or getting involved with organisations such as 80,000 Hours and the Centre for Effective Altruism, where movement building is a component of their work.
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The key is persistence and being helpful. Not just asking for something, but offering something. You always have something to offer if youâre curious and engaged. You can always trade and barter good ideas; you can always be kind and find a way to help.
If this sounds like an interesting path for you, some of the other resources you might consider include AARPâs Experience Corps volunteering in urban public schools, and Stanfordâs Distinguished Careers Institute (DCI) or Harvardâs Advanced Leadership Initiative (ALI), which help proven leaders find a way to make a social impact in their communities.
Future people count. There could be a lot of them. We can make their lives go better.
This is the case for longtermism in a nutshell. The premises are simple, and I donât think theyâre particularly controversial. Yet taking them seriously amounts to a moral revolutionâone with far-reaching implications for how activists, researchers, policy makers, and indeed all of us should think and act.
These three lessonsâtake robustly good actions, build up options, and learn moreâcan help guide us in our attempts to positively influence the long term.
For many people, personal fit can mean the best way of contributing is through donations: you work in a career you love and excel at, and even if the work itself is not hugely impactful, you can make an enormous difference with your giving. This was true of John Yan. After learning about effective altruism and thinking about his career options, he decided to continue as a software engineer and donate a significant fraction of his income to effective charities as a member of Giving What We Can.