Hello folks! Â In September this year I expect to be spinning up an EA chapter at my uni. My primary question at the moment is how broad of a net I should cast. There are two options here
The first is to make a typical EA group, where the boundaries of our discussion are quite centered on EA areas, motivations, and worldviews
The second is to try and make a group that is more altruism-focused in general, rather than EA specific. This would involve much more contact with religious/secular-non-EA perspectives of altruism, and the meetups would center on doing good in general rather than specifically EA-style Doing Good Better. I have benefited a lot from non-EA ideas of generosity, and it's definitely better for broad appeal, but I'm worried that a broad net would make the group unfocused or ungrounded
Does anyone have any experience running or organizing a latter group? Did it work well? Are my concerns reasonable? I would love some relevant experience on what kind of groups tend to work better, get the most engagement, etc
Appreciate the insights :)
Hi Tessa, good question. I guess it depends on what type of university you're in. Your bio says that your an engineering student which suggests that there may be quite a few quantitatively minded peers, they are likely to appreciate the cost effective and scope sensitive focus of EA that many other altruistic areas lack.Â
An EA focused group can have quite broad topics of discussion from global health to AI, and you could host events which critique or contrast EA principles against other forms of altruism e.g. "how does EA differ from Christianity?" as one of your early events but then have most themes stick to EA. I guess my answer is focus on where the demand is and what could bring people but remember that a lot of EA principles are fascinating for a broad range of people. Good luck! Building a chapter is an admirable thing to do :)
That makes sense! Following the vibes of who shows up seems reasonable to me. Â I also didn't really consider that we can reach outside of typical EA areas on occasion (and maybe collab with other student groups), which is a good way to contact the other ideas while still keeping the group focused. Â Thank you!!