JP

Joris P

690 karmaJoined Aug 2021

Bio

I lead CEA's University Groups team. We often post updates on the Forum about what we're up to, and are always happy to answer questions!

I helped start & ran Positive Impact Society Erasmus (PISE) in 2020-2022, and was co-lead for EAGxRotterdam 2022. I'm happy to answer any questions about those experiences!

Comments
14

Hey Tom, welcome to the Forum! 

 

I happened to see this comment, excited to get in touch! And thanks for the recommendation James :)

Want to shoot us an email at unigroups [at] centreforeffectivealtruism [dot] org? I've already asked someone to do a search in our system for any people in your area!

Answer by Joris PFeb 18, 20243
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Just sending a quick reply - you might find this interesting!

For anyone wondering what other reflection/reform projects are happening - just plugging this overview Naomi and I put together!

Thanks for clarifying that national groups fulfil important roles beyond those two parts of the funnel!

Reading this made me realise I'm worried that there are important things that regional/national groups do that aren't always very legible to funders, like:

  • Allowing EAs outside of traditional EA Hubs maintain motivation in their work (kind of what you describe in the 'Continuous contact points' section)
  • Having EAGx conferences take place (initiating the idea; getting a team together, etc.)
  • Fostering positive portrayals of Effective Altruism in local media outlets

I'm worried that various contributions of national groups are hard to capture in a metric like 'longtermist career changes', and think this post is helpful in clarifying the importance of funders not being too myopic in their grantmaking decisions. [Edit: I'm not necessarily arguing they are] Thanks for writing this!

Focusmate works incredibly well for me!

 

Some things I really like:

  • If you show up more than 2 mins late your session is cancelled, meaning you'll kind of disappoint the person on the other end of the call, and you have to wait another 13 minutes to get started. That's a big motivation to show up and get started!
  • During the session, there's someone else expecting you to make progress in the next 25/55/75 minutes. I feel way more (healthy) pressure to actually make progress when there's expectations of a stranger (compared to e.g. a colleague or friend)
  • There's a bunch of people interested in EA on the platform, but not so many that you always match with EAs. That means you'll have an interesting mix of EA and non-EA chats (with people from around the world!) in breaks

 

Some things you might dislike:

  • Sessions only start every 15 minutes
  • There's only a 3 free matches per week (but I find the subscription totally worth it - coming from someone who doesn't have any other productivity boost subscriptions)
  • You're on camera with loads of strangers, so there's not much privacy

 

I used to work from home, and would schedule in Focusmate calls for most of my day. I recently started working from an office, and I now use Focusmate when no one else is in (usually to get my day started, or to help me get me through things if I need to work late). 

 

If you're joining Focusmate, consider also joining the EA group on Focusmate, as @Lizka mentioned!

Thanks Wil! I will DM you some details after the weekend :)

To potentially confuse things even more: I know some groups in the Netherlands use the name 'IDEA program' to refer to the in-depth fellowship.

In-Depth EA program

Thanks Harrison, we're indeed looking at exactly those "policy responses to non-existential low-probability risks" as there is little material out there  on policy change regarding GC & X-risks. By 'lowering the bar' a bit to what we called 'extreme risks', we hope to include smaller, less deadly risks into our case study candidates. As such, 9/11 is indeed one to consider, thank!

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