Hello! I'm a maths master's student at Cambridge and have been involved with student groups for the last few years. I've been lurking on the forum for a long time and want to become more active. Hopefully this is the first comment of many!

Hi.

I am an unemployed, paranoid schizophrenic who recently started studying stoicsm, Buddhist philosophy and mindfulness and begun to sort my personal problems out. I now want to contribute to society in a meaningful way and I Googled "Effective Altruism" with a view to discovering how to best invest my time and I found you.

My initial impression was that I wanted to do something I could directly see the positive impact I had so you may not be a good fit. I have been considering helping people who are struggling with life and achieving even the basics, much as I have based on my own recent experiences but the idea of maximizing the return on investment for sentient beings on the investment I and others make appeals so, that's where I'm at and what brought me here.

There is a lot of information on this site! Too much for me to digest right now. I'll give you my initial reactions then perhaps read more if you seem like people I should connect with to further my dual intentions of effective contribution and living a life of satisfaction.

Sorry if this has been discussed before or falls foul of etiquette, if it does it can be edited or deleted. I wonder if any effective altruism movements ever do anything for communities on a local level in the developed world, beyond the big direct impact issues such as factory farming? I understand that resources often make a bigger difference in the developing world but if you also target neglected but noticeable things in the communities of the developed world, even if they seem trivial in scope, people who haven't heard of you will know you exist. It could serve as a gateway to introduce people attracted to altruism to contributing in an effective way. Getting involved in a wider scope of issues may dilute the mission if managed poorly but managed correctly I wonder if it would be good PR and advertising?

That's all for now except to offer one thing. I used to be very, very overweight, spend most of my time in bed and catch a taxi round the corner. I'm planning to run my first marathon in September. I have a paid regular entry, if I am sold on Effective Altruism I could run in aid of this cause, though I know not how much impact it would have, more than just running for myself I'm sure.

Thanks for reading.

Hi! My name is Sive, I am an undergrad in Anthro and Economics in Public Policy. I have just been introduced to effective altruism, and hope to better my understanding about the general underlying concepts, and hopefully, witness/participate ongoing (live) theoretical discussions to orient EA's actions!

I created a sequence for the 2019 EA Survey. Is anyone else able to see it? Also, why isn't it linked from the sequences page?

Hey y'all. After reading alot of Singer and some introductory information on this site I've realized how much I want to start actively contributing towards EA goals, especially toward animal rights. Unfortunately I've run into some road blocks and am feeling stuck. I wanted to share some of these problems in hopes that I can receive some resources or ideas from you good people.

1. I'm poor. I'm saddled with student loan debt. I'm convinced that donating effectively is really the quickest and best way to make an impact but just cant afford to part with much money. How can I most effectively contribute without donating to causes?

2. I love my job. I work as a Guide for a Wilderness Therapy program and while I feel that I have benefited a few of the troubled adolescents who I've worked with I also recognize that this type of work isn't addressing the more important issues that I've become concerned about through reading about EA. How can I help without having to change careers?

3. Volunteering with animal advocacy groups is appealing to me but I'm skeptical of alot of groups and not sure where to go. It seems every animal advocacy group I look into is accused of hypocrisy or incompetence. How can help reduce animal suffering? I would love to find some small achievable goal that would help animals and get behind it.

4. Can't find any EA groups near Salt Lake City. Anyone know of anything?

Lastly, I recognize that looking for a way to help without donating or shifting to a more beneficial career might be unrealistic. I'm definitely open to the idea that making more money in a different field may be the most ethical thing to do and would love to hear thoughts on that as well.

Hi there! I'm new to the forum and am excited to learn more and hopefully add value to the group. I currently work on energy and climate policy in a government role (more about me in my bio) and spend most of my free time reading books and articles in the fields of physics, neuroscience, and economics and thinking about what it all means for how we should live our lives. Can't wait to get more involved!

Is anyone else having trouble logging into the EA Fellowship Weekend Grip platform? I can't get past the screen where I set my password.