Holden’s analysis seems sensible. To it I would add only two points:
1) Ratchet up your giving each time you get a higher income—at the time the new money is coming in, and before you start thinking about how to spend it. After you get a raise, especially an unexpected raise, is the best time to donate—rather than waiting to think about it at the end of the year.
2) Holden’s analysis implies that if you have no income, e.g. as a student, you should wait to donate until later. This strikes me as basically correct but it is really really surprisingly important to give something on a regular basis—and put cognitive effort into efficient altruism / optimal philanthropy / rational charity, to get into that habit as well, even for small amounts.
At the end of every year, for example, you might donate $100 - or even $10, if $100 is too much—after looking over the latest list of efficient charities and doing some thought about where the $100 ($10) will do the most good, for purchasing utilons rather than fuzzies, just as if you were about to give $10,000. If the end of the year is far enough away and you don’t have a trustworthy reminder system already set up, you might do that part now, then again a year later or at the end of the year, etc.
If you don’t do this part, I would evaluate a surprisingly low chance that you would remember to start giving, and giving efficiently, later in life when you have income.
I vaguely remember talk of having an iphone/android app that allowed you to quickly donate a little bit to SI/MIRI (/CFAR as well now) any time you had the urge to purchase fuzzies. This seems like a great way to get into the habit as well. Anyone know if it has it been implemented?
You might be able to get the habit-forming effect without “wasting” $100 or $10 by deciding how much you would like to donate in terms of your income and debt, then creating a worksheet for yourself which you dutifully fill out every month, even when you know it will come out to $0.
I’m confused; can you explain why a student shouldn’t … prioritize fuzzies?
Whenever I think of purchasing utilons, I always figure I could get 10x later in life with each donation when I’m financially better off, so I walk away from the experience feeling like a utilon failure. So I worry that feeling of failure is going to make me less inclined to donate later. Meanwhile, if I stock up on fuzzies now, I can tell myself later that, not only am I not failing at utilons, but my utilons also feel 10x as fuzzy as those modest fuzzies from my student times.
Is there an obvious error in here? I guess I should also mention that I don’t really spend a lot on … stuff.
The point is to get into the habit of giving efficiently. Going through the process of choosing which effective charity to give to is a distinct skill from choosing to give in the first place or acquiring the jobs that will give you more money later. So it’s worth practicing. And it’s worth conditioning yourself to take pride in that effective-charity-selection process.
I don’t think most people actually “stock up” on fuzzies. Donating to fuzzy charities may simply build the habit of donating to fuzzy charities and then make you feel bad later when you have to switch. (One or both of us may be generalizing from one example here). You’ll still want fuzzies when you’re older (if you care about fuzzies at all), but you should, at all ages/incomes, practice acquiring fuzzies through the cheapest manner possible. (This probably varies from person to person)
There are good reasons not to donate a lot of money when you’re a student or still searching for good jobs, but getting into the practice of thinking about charity rationally is still important.
Holden’s analysis seems sensible. To it I would add only two points:
1) Ratchet up your giving each time you get a higher income—at the time the new money is coming in, and before you start thinking about how to spend it. After you get a raise, especially an unexpected raise, is the best time to donate—rather than waiting to think about it at the end of the year.
2) Holden’s analysis implies that if you have no income, e.g. as a student, you should wait to donate until later. This strikes me as basically correct but it is really really surprisingly important to give something on a regular basis—and put cognitive effort into efficient altruism / optimal philanthropy / rational charity, to get into that habit as well, even for small amounts.
At the end of every year, for example, you might donate $100 - or even $10, if $100 is too much—after looking over the latest list of efficient charities and doing some thought about where the $100 ($10) will do the most good, for purchasing utilons rather than fuzzies, just as if you were about to give $10,000. If the end of the year is far enough away and you don’t have a trustworthy reminder system already set up, you might do that part now, then again a year later or at the end of the year, etc.
If you don’t do this part, I would evaluate a surprisingly low chance that you would remember to start giving, and giving efficiently, later in life when you have income.
To get in a habit, you should donate more often, e.g., monthly, even if only a little.
I vaguely remember talk of having an iphone/android app that allowed you to quickly donate a little bit to SI/MIRI (/CFAR as well now) any time you had the urge to purchase fuzzies. This seems like a great way to get into the habit as well. Anyone know if it has it been implemented?
We looked into the the thing that would let people donate to MIRI by sending a text message to a certain number, but it was prohibitively expensive.
You might be able to get the habit-forming effect without “wasting” $100 or $10 by deciding how much you would like to donate in terms of your income and debt, then creating a worksheet for yourself which you dutifully fill out every month, even when you know it will come out to $0.
I’m confused; can you explain why a student shouldn’t … prioritize fuzzies?
Whenever I think of purchasing utilons, I always figure I could get 10x later in life with each donation when I’m financially better off, so I walk away from the experience feeling like a utilon failure. So I worry that feeling of failure is going to make me less inclined to donate later. Meanwhile, if I stock up on fuzzies now, I can tell myself later that, not only am I not failing at utilons, but my utilons also feel 10x as fuzzy as those modest fuzzies from my student times.
Is there an obvious error in here? I guess I should also mention that I don’t really spend a lot on … stuff.
The point is to get into the habit of giving efficiently. Going through the process of choosing which effective charity to give to is a distinct skill from choosing to give in the first place or acquiring the jobs that will give you more money later. So it’s worth practicing. And it’s worth conditioning yourself to take pride in that effective-charity-selection process.
I don’t think most people actually “stock up” on fuzzies. Donating to fuzzy charities may simply build the habit of donating to fuzzy charities and then make you feel bad later when you have to switch. (One or both of us may be generalizing from one example here). You’ll still want fuzzies when you’re older (if you care about fuzzies at all), but you should, at all ages/incomes, practice acquiring fuzzies through the cheapest manner possible. (This probably varies from person to person)
There are good reasons not to donate a lot of money when you’re a student or still searching for good jobs, but getting into the practice of thinking about charity rationally is still important.