I took the GWWC 10% pledge recently, and the decision was surprisingly easy once I stopped overthinking it.
The intellectual case
I'm a mathematical physicist working on integrable systems - problems where we can find exact, deterministic solutions. AI development is the opposite: we're building increasingly powerful systems we don't fundamentally understand, in a competitive race that discourages caution.
My background led me to take seriously arguments that aligning superintelligent AI may be fundamentally intractable. I donate to organizations focused on governance, international coordination, and advocacy (MIRI, CAIS Action Fund) rather than technical alignment research. The goal isn't making ASI "safe" - it's preventing the development of systems we can't control in the first place.
Why it matters beyond the arguments
But honestly, the intellectual case wasn't enough to get me to actually commit. What pushed me over was realizing: this is the community I want to belong to.
EA attracts people who think important things through carefully and have the courage to follow their convictions even when unfashionable. People who ask "what actually helps?" instead of "what feels good?" People who change their minds when evidence changes.
That's rare. I wanted to be part of it, not just adjacent to it.
The practical reality
The decision became easy when I looked at my bank account. Even on a postdoc salary, the GWWC How rich I am calculator showed I'm in the top 3% globally by income. Money was just accumulating. I couldn't think of better ways to use it than supporting work that might actually matter for reducing catastrophic risks.
The hesitation wasn't financial - it was committing publicly to something that matters. But seeing others in the EA community do the same made it easier. Now it's done, and I can stop overthinking it.
