“Advice to my EA newcomer self” by Sam Anschell

In 2017, I learned about EA from a friend of a friend in Scotland. He gave me a copy of Doing Good Better to read on the flight home, and I was sold by the time I’d finished it. Over the next five years, I was interested in EA but low on context - occasionally lurking on the Forum and talking about the ideas with friends and family. This post is a smorgasbord of thoughts I wish I could tell my past self. Diligence or caveat claims before repeating them as code I knew that the commercials set to Sarah McLachlan music claiming you can help a dog find a foster home for 60 cents were probably inaccurate. However for some reason, I would repeat EA-related claims out of context in ways that the author would probably dislike. I’ve seen public-facing threads along the lines of the following: [...] ---Outline:(00:35) Diligence or caveat claims before repeating them as code(02:53) Being funny is a virtue. Being edgy is not(04:20) Jargon is rarely necessary(05:52) Embrace entrepreneurship but not risky schemes(06:54) Be cognizant of professional dynamics and personal boundaries(08:12) It's great to ask for help(09:24) What the people are really likeThe original text contained 2 footnotes which were omitted from this narration. --- First published: April 14th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/SJpCsSdrFpa7HiJX4/untitled-draft-jw9e --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.