Princeton Effective Altruism (EA) aims to learn how we can do good better. Effective Altruism is a global movement that applies reason and empirical evidence to search for the most effective ways to do good.
Why use evidence in altruism?
Because choosing the right cause or charity can multiply your impact thousands of times. For example, the graph below shows the cost-effectiveness of HIV interventions in sub-Saharan Africa. The most-effective intervention is more than 1,000 times more effective than the least-effective intervention.
In other words, choosing which problem to tackle, and how best to tackle it, could be the most important decision of your career. And where your donation goes is just as important as how much you’re donating. The same logic applies to choosing what causes to work on. Of course, it’s not always straightforward to quantify comparisons between causes and charities, but researchers in effective altruism aim to identify promising causes and solutions using rigor and the available evidence.
What does Princeton EA do?
In the 2022-23 school year, we will be running an intro fellowship, having socials, and readings groups focused on AI alignment and other topics! In past years we’ve run career workshops, organized discussions, taught classes on EA, hosted speakers working on the world’s most pressing issues, and more.
Our main goal is to support Princeton students who are trying to do work that addresses the world’s most pressing problems. We aim to help students switch to and develop the skills for careers that change the world for the better. This includes connecting students to professionals working on things like mitigating the risk of catastrophic pandemics, building public health infrastructure in the developing world, and making sure AI follows human preferences. We’ve also done a Giving What We Can pledge drive encouraging students to take the GWWC pledge to donate 10% of their income (1% while they’re still a student) to charities they believe are most effective.
How can I learn more about EA?
We’re always happy to chat about EA: just shoot us an email or set up a Zoom call! In addition, here are some organizations we love and recommend:
80,000 Hours provides practical, evidence-based advice on achieving an impactful career. Their thorough and accessible research has transformed the career paths of countless altruistic people (including our members!).
GiveWell is the top charity research group: founded in 2007, GiveWell has revolutionized the field of charity evaluation with their rigorous, transparent analyses of where your money goes the farthest to save and improve lives.
The Open Philanthropy Project is GiveWell’s adventurous counterpart: while GiveWell is focused on the most rigorously-tested, low-risk charities, the Open Philanthropy Project is open to funding high-risk, high-reward projects as well. If you’re interested in large-scale change, then keep an eye on the Open Philanthropy Project’s grants.
Giving What We Can (GWWC) is an organization with over 3000 members across the world who’ve taken a pledge to donate 10% of their income to effective charities.
Interested in the GWWC pledge, but not yet ready to make the full commitment? Learn more, then Try Giving.