Yesterday I donated my 100,000th lifetime dollar.[1] A few weeks ago was the fifth anniversary of my GWWC pledge. And this is Donation Celebration Week. So high time to step back and reflect on giving.
First a poem[2] (audio here). Then some facts, figures and reflections.
Poem
What should I do with all this money?
Serious stuff, not so funny.
Fancy luxuries, shiny and new,
To that I say: pooh-pooh.
A badminton racquet, a winter jacket.
A climbing shoe, a trip or two.
But that doesn’t count, I protest!
I can’t work all day, we all need a rest.
My younger self, to GiveWell donated.
But now that’s passé, antiquated!
Swamped by phylum Arthropoda,
Digital minds, or even odder.
What about patient philanthropy?
If AI automates all industry,
Returns could be massive,
With investments passive.
But money in a century,
Won’t matter if all things are free.
Even less if we’re all dead,
“The lightcone’s ours,” the AIs said.
So to the Longterm Future Fund
(let’s make extinction moribund)
I entrust this stack of cash.
I thought it through, it wasn’t rash.
The ghost of a child I could have saved,
Says to me: “You’re depraved.
We’re dying now, by the droves,
For want of vaccines, clean cookstoves.”
I didn’t kill you, don’t blame me.
Your plight is plain for all to see.
I don’t know how they could let
You all die, sans bed net.
But “they” is me, and I am they.
You’re dead. I mustn’t look away.
Is my fancy philosophy,
More than just sophistry?
And to all you shrimps and fishes,
Sorry to deny your wishes.
When our cruelty finishes,
You’ll be in our hearts, not our dishes.
Prose
I have not previously been very public about donations because it feels strange to talk about and not all that informative (here I am, yet another of many EAs donating to the same few causes). But inspired by e.g. Jeff and Julia, Peter Singer, and Richard Chappel I am more persuaded talking publicly about donations is a healthy norm to promote. So here it goes.
Timeline
* 2018: I learn about EA
This sounds very interesting and closely aligns with my personal long-term career goals. Would the seminar content will be made available online for those looking to complete the course remotely or is this purely in-person?