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Session 06

Putting into practice

“We are looking ahead, as is one of the first mandates given us as chiefs, to make sure and to make every decision that we make relate to the welfare and well-being of the seventh generation to come. ... What about that seventh generation? Where are you taking them? What will they have?”

—Oren Lyons (1980)

Required materials

Introduction

In this final section, we hope to help you apply the principles of effective altruism to your own life and career.

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You probably won’t be ready to make a major change just yet - you might want to read and reflect more before you do that. So instead we’ll help you to think through some of your key uncertainties, generate tests for those uncertainties, and plan out how you can make sure you follow through on your intentions.

4

Dealing with demandingness

  1. You have more than one goal, and that's fine (5mins)

5

Exercise (1.5 hours)

(Please complete this before your session)

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For this exercise, you’ll begin to think about what these ideas might mean for your life. We don’t expect you to come up with a full plan now: you should probably continue to explore the ideas and think through various options. But we think that it can be useful to come up with some initial guesses at this stage, to structure your thinking.

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1. Based on the readings in previous sessions, which global problems do you think are most pressing and why? (Remember, experts are quite uncertain about this question!)

Write your answer here (In your own copy of the document)

2. What are your 3-5 biggest uncertainties about the above?

Write your answer here (In your own copy of the document)

3. What could you do over the next few weeks to explore those uncertainties? (For example, do more reading, talk things through with a friend, or write an EA Forum post on your key uncertainties to get feedback.)

Write your answer here (In your own copy of the document)

4. What aptitudes are you most interested in exploring or using next? You might want to think about what you’re unusually good at, what activities make you feel energized, and what skills seem especially useful for addressing the problems you listed above.

Write your answer here (In your own copy of the document)

5. How could you begin to test out those aptitudes over the next few weeks?

Write your answer here (In your own copy of the document)

6. While you’re figuring out your uncertainties, are there any actions to improve the world that you want to do now? (E.g. make a donation, or do things that make it more likely that you remember to apply these ideas in your life (like signing up to newsletters, committing to discuss your career with a friend, or making a task to apply for high-impact jobs/internships)).

Write your answer here (In your own copy of the document)

More to explore

4

Volunteering

  1. Where’s the best place to volunteer? - 80,000 Hours (3 mins.)

  2. Is skilled volunteering for you? - Animal Advocacy Careers (2 mins.)

  3. Paths to Impact for EA Working Professionals - High Impact Professionals (3 mins.)

5

Other

  1. Take action - EA Forum

  2. Doing good together (40 mins.)

  3. Rowing, Steering, Anchoring, Equity, Mutiny Holden Karnofsky explores some key different approaches to improving the world. (22 mins.)

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