This is a special post for quick takes by Lis_B. Only they can create top-level comments. Comments here also appear on the Quick Takes page and All Posts page.
Your disability does not make you less of an effective altruist
Effective altruism is about doing the most good with what you have. Having a mental or physical disability might cause you to have less time, money or energy to spend. But if you maximize the impact of these resources, you are doing as much good as you can with what you have.
While I agree with you in principle, I think that the reality is that it is tough to keep this idea in mind, primarily because we judge people based on the results/achievements, rather than on the effectiveness of what they achieved based on what they had.
Simple toy example: the person who started with $100 and ends up with $500 gets much more praise than the person who starts with $5 and ends up with $100.
That’s a good point – others will no doubt measure your success by your absolute impact which will depend on your initial abilities/resources. My post was more meant to address the guilt and distress I suspect many disabled EAs feel, which I think is unfounded.
Your disability does not make you less of an effective altruist
Effective altruism is about doing the most good with what you have. Having a mental or physical disability might cause you to have less time, money or energy to spend. But if you maximize the impact of these resources, you are doing as much good as you can with what you have.
While I agree with you in principle, I think that the reality is that it is tough to keep this idea in mind, primarily because we judge people based on the results/achievements, rather than on the effectiveness of what they achieved based on what they had.
Simple toy example: the person who started with $100 and ends up with $500 gets much more praise than the person who starts with $5 and ends up with $100.
That’s a good point – others will no doubt measure your success by your absolute impact which will depend on your initial abilities/resources. My post was more meant to address the guilt and distress I suspect many disabled EAs feel, which I think is unfounded.