This seems to be a common misconception about effective altruism for some people.
I once told a person about effective altruism and this person said to me:
Have you reduced your diet to rice, beans, spinach, water, and maybe a multi-vitamin? That would provide all the essential nutrients you need to survive, and at the same time free up some of the money you were “wasting” on frivolous luxury eating beef, chicken, cheese, etc. Have you moved into the smallest, cheapest housing available? Did you sell your car and now rely solely on walking or biking to get around so you can donate all that money to the people who need it to survive?
This is a bit puzzling to me because it’s quite clear that this is not an optimal lifestyle especially for effective altruists because you want to continue giving for as long as possible. The effects on your mental health and the burnout risk is not worth the small amount of money you could save by possibly sacrificing all your future donations.
This seems to be a common misconception about effective altruism for some people.
I once told a person about effective altruism and this person said to me:
This is a bit puzzling to me because it’s quite clear that this is not an optimal lifestyle especially for effective altruists because you want to continue giving for as long as possible. The effects on your mental health and the burnout risk is not worth the small amount of money you could save by possibly sacrificing all your future donations.