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All of John_Sturm's Comments + Replies

The Value of Starting a Giving What We Can/EA Chapter
John_Sturm9y2
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Hi all! I'm John. I was co-president of the Harvard EA group for the last 2 years.

I agree strongly that starting a chapter is an incredibly valuable thing to do.

I just want to add that much of the impact of a chapter--and at universities, arguably, most of the impact--can come from influencing the career choices that members will make (whether or not they become GWWC members) and the choices that they will make later on, in whatever careers they choose. This article might make a reader think that chapters' only impact is through donations.

I think it's imp... (read more)

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The perspectives on effective altruism we don't hear
John_Sturm9y6
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The dinner I learned the most from was the one we had with Harvard College Faith and Action, a Christian student group. I could identify three main differences in perspective (there are likely a bunch of others too):

(1) Many of the Christian students ascribed to non-consequential ethics systems. Their goal was to "act as Jesus would." While this would have consequences they considered good, they were maximizing for acting like he would, not for the outcomes acting like him would cause.

(2) A corollary of "act as Jesus would" is "hel... (read more)

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tomstocker
9y
Can you argue on christian grounds - for example: 1). Jesus was very strong on giving to the poor - not to convince people of God but because they were poor and in need - Ananias was struck down (only person in New Testament I think) because he failed to tithe to the poor. People came to him asking to follow him (meaning high probability of salvation) - he said to give ALL of their money away to the poor first. 2). loving thy neighbour is all about loving people you aren't familiar with or are even afraid of. 3). you just kind of have to accept if they believe in eternal damnation - infinite QALYs for each person saved.
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Andy_Schultz
9y
That's interesting to hear about their beliefs for #2. By contrast, the leaders at my church specifially say that everyone is our neighbor.
Introduce Yourself
John_Sturm9y3
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Hi! I'm John. I am co-president of Harvard's effective altruism student group for undergrads. I currently study physics and math, and I do research in economic theory; I'm planning to transition to economics after I graduate in May, eventually going to grad. school and likely doing research long-term.

In the past, I've spent a lot of time thinking about meta-ethics and movement building. I have two years of experience running Harvard's group, and am super happy to talk to other students / movement-builders. Currently, I'm most excited about rethinking some ... (read more)

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