Update, 12/7/21: As an experiment, we're trying out a longer-running Open Thread that isn't refreshed each month. We've set this thread to display new comments first by default, rather than high-karma comments.
If you're new to the EA Forum, consider using this thread to introduce yourself!
You could talk about how you found effective altruism, what causes you work on and care about, or personal details that aren't EA-related at all.
(You can also put this info into your Forum bio.)
If you have something to share that doesn't feel like a full post, add it here!
(You can also create a Shortform post.)
Open threads are also a place to share good news, big or small. See this post for ideas.
Hi everyone! I generally go by Velociraptor online, but if you find that too silly, please call me Lu. I had a pretty awful experience burning myself out trying to do too much volunteer work during the peak of covid, and when I was seeking more reasonable and high-impact ways to return to helping, I stumbled across effective altruism a few months ago. The ideas have really appealed to me, although I'm still uncertain about some aspects (mostly the global focus, I'm generally a proponent of local efforts as participants tend to have more in-depth knowledge about the problems they are tackling). I'm most interested in the career directing ideas that I've read about, but I'm also interested in learning more about all aspects of this movement!
If you're from an affluent community or country, there's a trade-off between doing things you strongly know to be good (because you're local), and helping the people who are the least fortunate (who are nowhere near you). A solution might be finding ways to elicit local knowledge and help with impactful work in other places (the Global South, the future, factory farms etc.).