Eli Kaufman
Bio
Participation3
Discovered EA in 2021.
Studied computer science and linguistics.
Following a career change, I'm now working in an EA-aligned organization - The END Fund. My role has to do with technology, systems and processes, primarily with Salesforce technology which I have been working with in the last 10+ years.
Enjoy meeting new people from the EA world, don't hesitate to reach out!
How I can help others
Happy to chat with people about EA ideas, share from my experience in the tech world and in the EA community.
Posts 4
Comments20
Interesting! Minor comment: there's a missing y in the header "Why Bean Soaking ma be tractable".
Since I'm not familiar with the water situation in Uganda, wanted to check if you have considered what would be the impact of using more water to soak the beans? Would families have to spend more time/money to obtain more clean water?
And a potential information campaign could take place in the markets where people buy their beans.
Here's my stab at it: Long before the internet, this folk wisdom encapsulates the notion that: A. It's not enough to have an intention without acting on it and/or B. It's often hard to predict the long-term implications of an action. Famous examples: the inventor of the plastic bag was trying to solve the problem of waste from paper bags; Alfred Nobel's dynamite was created as a safe way to blast rocks.
Great summary of FIRE. My journey involved discovering FIRE a decade prior to discovering EA, which I feel equipped me with tools useful for EA mindset:
- not trying to be a maximalist e.g. it's ok to go on holiday while pursuing bigger goals
- not to get into analysis paralysis e.g. rather than trying to find the very best passive fund or constructing my own portfolio which needs to be rebalanced, go for Vanguard's fund so I don't have to worry about this.
- making career decisions based a way of life different to mainstream.
Had an idea, don't know if it was previously explored: The amounts currently donated throughout EA are miniscule in comparison to traditional philanthropy. Wouldn't it be effective trying to reach established philanthropic foundations and convince them to look at impact? With the right connections, even getting one or two foundations become more impact-oriented could be massive.
Interesting approach, trying to synthesize Financial Independence with effective giving! (are there others in the forum pursuing FI?) While I don't have a direct solution to the PDF questions, wanted to mention an initiative that could be relevant - a way to get your savings do good: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/FMgvYitqeikgTxpcw/global-income-coin-a-ubi-generating-currency
Thank you for writing this article Patrick.
As someone with a similar-ish background of discovering EA in mid-career, many of the things you mentioned resonate with my experience. I might write a post about my own experience.