You both like vegan.
Stranger: hey
You: hi
Stranger: what up
You: just signing up for classes next semester
You: yourself?
Stranger: o choose any fun classes?
Stranger: im eating breakfast
You: ah, no. There are no "fun" classes for my degree
Stranger: sorry, interesting
Stranger: what degree is it then haha
You: electrical engineering
Stranger: oh that explains it LOL
You: have you heard about Peter Singer?
Stranger: i have
Stranger: and talked to him before haha
You: what about?
Stranger: just random utilitarian ethics stuff
You: do you study philosophy?
Stranger: nah a friend knwos him so i met him briefly
You: what kind of stuff did you ask him?
You: I know quite a bit about preference utilitarianism
Stranger: dont really remember, was a while ago
You: ok
Stranger: like 2yr ago, but i think hes classical utilitarian
You: he's definitely not
You: how did your friend know him?
Stranger: no clue
You: then do you know about the movement he helped start?
Stranger: EA?
Stranger: animal liberation?
You: EA
Stranger: o ya im very familiar haha
You: ya?
You: Are you an EA?
Stranger: i guess you could say so, but i plan to go into an entrepreneurial route in the future
Stranger: you?
You: Very much so. I've taken the GWWC pledge.
You: What do you want to do for a living?
Stranger: im a student
You: As am I.
Stranger: yep :)
You: So what do you want to do for a living?
Stranger: i want to start a plant based food company
Stranger: wbu friend
You: well, just get a job as an electrical engineer
You: and earn to give
You: Have you taken an EA pledge?
Stranger: i havent
Stranger: cuz if im poor, 10% is a lot, but if im rich, id give way more than 10%
Stranger: and some EA literature i read recently suggested that not too many people should go the earn to give route
You: lol
You: what?
Stranger: i think was on 80,000 hours
You: lol, they're all about earning to give
You: that's the whole idea for the site
You: I don't know if I should speak my mind. But I don't think you're an EA.
Stranger: huh
Stranger: they suggest that a lot of people should do careers that focus directly on dealing with the issue as well
You: Sure
You: Is there a local meetup near you?
Stranger: yeah
Stranger: in DC
You: How many people go?
Stranger: not terribly many
You: guess a number?
Stranger: 5-25 depending
You: that's a pretty big range
Stranger: ya i mean their facebook page has 240 likes
Stranger: so can vary quite a bit
Stranger: depending on how many show up
You: so what, 10ish on average?
Stranger: ya
Stranger: my school has an EA club as well
You: That sounds about average
You: Ah
Stranger: but not many ppl go to those meetings
You: what are the meetings for?
Stranger: usually discussions
Stranger: havent been to one in like a year tho
You: what was a discussion topic you remember?
Stranger: dont remember any meeting topics tbh but the leader is a friend of mine and always talks about animal charities > human charities
Stranger: which i agree with
You: I can see how
Stranger: also
Stranger: found the article
Stranger:https://80000hours.org/2015/07/80000-hours-thinks-that-only-a-small-proportion-of-people-should-earn-to-give-long-term/
You: Hold on, let my read it quickly...
You: I don't believe it's what you claimed it to be...
Stranger: really?
You: "Effective Altruism organizations are generally reporting that they are more talent-constrained than money-constrained."
You: Well, first off, EA is an extremely small movement.
Stranger: well yeah
You: "there are many more non-earning-to-give paths than there are earning-to-give paths"
You: I don't think I agree with that statement.
Stranger: im not sure enough on the state of EA presently to really make a conjecture
You: Regardless of EA.
You: Furthermore, researchers can make a pretty penny. Enough to earn to give themselves.
Stranger: i know a lot of researchers
Stranger: im not sure 75k salary after spending (on average) 8 years doing a phd is a pretty penny
Stranger: but anyway, thats why i wanna go the entrepreneurial route
You: wow
You: 75k is a very good income
You: Whatever. You'll find out that it is eventually ;)
You: Though experience.
Stranger: lol.. most finance people i know are making minimum 100k/yr without bonuses right out of college
You: good for them
You: even better
Stranger: in the sphere of "trying to change the world," 75k is insubstantial
You: I always laugh at the fact that just about every major that mention's their income, it's always much higher than reality
Stranger: to provide for yourself, yeah it's a good living
You: lololol
You: Like I said, you'll find out thought experience
You: I have no intention of trying to convince you ;)
You: Are you from the US?
Stranger: ok lol
Stranger: yeah i am
You: I just had this convo on an EA group chat with a student from Brazil
You: I mean, just about what's a good relative US income
Stranger: yeah i mean average income in the US is around 30k
You: That article though, by MacAskill, piqued my interest
Stranger: so ofc 2.5x average is "a very good income"
You: ofc?
Stranger: of course
You: and substantial
You: But I mean, ya, policy change would always be better.
You: I just don't want to be a politician or diplomat. The majority of people don't want to either.
Stranger: hence why i think entrepreneurship is a great idea?
You: "high-value research" requires graduate/PhD level education. Most people don't want to stay/be in academia that long.
You: entrepreneurship--depends
You: More so based on the idea of hits based giving
You: High risk
You: Yet high yield
You: And either way, if one is making a decent income in entrepreneurship, I fail to see how E2G isn't also an option
You: AT LEAST it's not AI safety bs
Stranger: hence why i said earlier "but if im rich, id give way more than 10%"
You: Yes, but if you don't think a single person's income of $75k/yr is wealthy, then I'd assume you're perception of rich is some unrealistic income level
You: Sorry if I'm coming off as harsh/agressive
Stranger: again, im aware of what 75k is relative to the median
You: This has been a chat I like though
Stranger: but i dont think id call it wealthy
You: For a single person?
You: Household of one?
Stranger: i mean after taxes you'd be somewhere in the 45-60k range depending on where you live, 401k contribution, etc
You: I guess you're right
Stranger: then after rent, insurance, other expenses, etc
Stranger: wouldnt be left with too terribly much to contribute
You: According to 2016 income tax brackets
You: EA is not about ending whichever suffering, animal or human, by oneself you know
You: But anyway
Stranger: yeah it's about doing as much as you can
You: 91k/yra
Stranger: and i strive to do more
Stranger has disconnected.
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