Background
This post emerged from discussions during the EA values project, where we observed that many community members cite specific individuals (whether EA founders, organization leaders, or mentors) as key influences in their journey into effective altruism. Understanding who inspires us and why can help us identify the values and approaches that make EA compelling to newcomers and sustaining for existing members.
Historical movements have often been shaped by individuals who embodied their core principles in compelling ways. From Gandhi's commitment to nonviolence to scientists like Marie Curie who persevered despite systemic barriers, these figures serve not just as leaders but as concrete examples of abstract values in action.
The Value of Role Models in EA
Role models serve several important functions:
- They make abstract EA principles concrete and relatable.
- They demonstrate how EA values translate into career and life decisions.
- They provide inspiration during challenging periods of community involvement.
- They help newcomers envision what an EA-aligned life might look like.
However, we should approach this topic thoughtfully. People are complex, and even our most admired figures have limitations and make mistakes. The goal isn't to create unrealistic pedestals but to learn from examples of EA values lived out imperfectly by real humans.
Categories for Discussion
Rather than simply listing names, it would be best to organize this around qualities that make these figures inspiring (feel free to include more qualities you see as important in EA):
Intellectual Humility and Truth-Seeking
Who demonstrates exceptional commitment to following evidence even when it challenges their prior beliefs?
Scope Sensitivity and Moral Circle Expansion
Who has effectively helped others care about neglected populations or causes?
Personal Sacrifice for Greater Good
Who has made significant personal sacrifices to maximize their positive impact?
Bridge-Building and Communication
Who excels at making EA ideas accessible to diverse audiences?
Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Who has created new institutions or approaches that significantly advanced EA causes?
Some Starting Examples
Within EA
William MacAskill - for pioneering EA outreach through accessible writing and speaking.
Toby Ord - for intellectual leadership on existential risk and personal giving commitments.
Holden Karnofsky - for systematic thinking about charity evaluation and cause prioritization.
Julia Wise - For community health leadership and modeling sustainable EA engagement.
Adjacent to EA
Peter Singer - for foundational work on effective giving and animal ethics.
Paul Farmer - for demonstrating how to combine academic rigor with direct service to the global poor.
Hans Rosling - for data-driven optimism about global development progress.
- Focus on specific actions, decisions, or approaches rather than general praise.
- Consider both public figures and personal mentors who've influenced you.
- Feel free to discuss both strengths and limitations (complexity makes role models more relatable).
- Include people at different career stages and from different backgrounds.
- Remember that being inspiring doesn't require perfection.
The hope moving forward
Understanding who inspires us can help the EA community:
- Identify the values and approaches that resonate most with people.
- Recognize diverse pathways into EA engagement.
- Support community members in finding mentors and role models.
- Celebrate the human side of our movement's foundations
It would be great to know who has inspired your EA journey and what people in EA can learn from their examples.
I note that the suggested role models are all thinkers rather than doers. I worry that in a world of influencers and celebrities, we celebrate public profile more than concrete impact. Yes, influencers can lead to concrete impact- but if everyone wants to be an influencer or a public intellectual, and sees that as the most impactful thing to do, then who's actually going to do the hard work of changing laws, of earning to give, of actual concrete steps that reduce suffering.
All of which to say: show me your role models who have directly improved the world, not just the people who have told others that they should.
I’m surprised to read this. Although an important part of their job is thinking, some of those figures have founded organisations like Giving What We Can, 80,000 hours or GiveWell, which is actually (a lot of) doing. Also, pledging to donate at least 10% of their income until they retire, thus saving several lives and helping thousands of people by preventing that they get terrible diseases is “improving the world directly” rather than thinking. (Although that impact is probably neglegible compared what they achieved in other ways, it is still a lot of good).
I want to be clear - I don't think these people haven't achieved anything or done good, but e.g. 80,000 hours' impact is indirect rather than direct. I'm not saying we shouldn't celebrate these people, but if we only focus on community building/meta level activity, then there's a risk EA ends up in a level of abstraction/MLM kind of space. My point was I don't think we should only celebrate EAs who create public discourse and the infrastructure to support more people becoming (better) EAs.
This somewhat related to mainanence and operations and how credit/respect is apportioned, but often the people doing the work are lower level employees who aren't famous or well-known. They aren't necessarily acknowledged at an annual organizational celebration, or in the local media. As an example, we might think that Rob Mather is great for founding/running the Against Malaria Foundation, but we don't know the names of the people who manufactured or delivered those anti-malaria bednets.
But here are some examples of people that I sort of, vaguely [1] consider moral role models:
Generally I don't really have role models. I've seen enough people express good traits and bad traits that I try to focus on specific behaviors/actions rather than on people as a whole. Think of all the people who work in virtuous fields/vocations who are also real assholes.
For example, Jeff Kaufman seems like a great guy from what I've read. But imagine that he has really bad emotional regulation, or he is really rude to strangers, or he isn't considerate to others, or he is a compulsive liar. If any of those things were true, that wouldn't change the fact that his earning to give is admirable. I try to not boil people down to a simple god/bad judgement, and instead look at people as a collection of their actions.
At least some of the people listed are either doers, or are a sort of combination of thinkers and doers. I'm do view these people mostly as thinkers, but I also have a sort of bias in that I didn't know about Hans Rosling in the 80s or about Paul Farmers work in the 90s. These people have done much more than simply give talks and write blog posts; they have also done things to directly improve the world.
Some of the people on the list
"Thinker" vs "Doer" gets pretty fuzzy: "changing laws" certainly involves a lot of thinking, as do ~all of the highest-impact things you might be considering "directly improving the world". I especially have trouble seeing how you could classify Farmer's work in Haiti as something other than an attempt to directly improve the world.
But riffing on your "not just the people who have told others that they should", and emphasizing the "that", perhaps the line is whether someone's primary work has been persuading other people to be more altruistic and/or effective? In which case I'd probably put MacAskill, Ord and Singer, and Rosling as "Thinkers" and Karnofsky, Wise, and Farmer as "Doers". But several of the folks in the "Thinker" category still did substantial "Doer" work (Rosling's hands-on public health work in Africa, MacAskill's co-founding 80k, Ord's cause prioritization, Singer's political advocacy and donations).
The suggested role models was to start the discussion and sharing of role models. Yes, role models can be doers, thinkers, or both and they all have influence to people especially on values. Since values are in words, thoughts and actions, it would be great to know also more EA doers.