I like thinking about this in terms of transmission losses. When you donate money, you convert from your time → money → charitable work at maximum efficiency. When you donate time and work on something you don’t specialize in, you are incurring substantial losses.
Of course, you are also having fun, and that value should go into the equation. It doesn’t make any sense for people to only value impact on the world...and not value their own enjoyment. Right? Excluding your own utility from the optimization would be absurd.
I like thinking about this in terms of transmission losses. When you donate money, you convert from your time → money → charitable work at maximum efficiency. When you donate time and work on something you don’t specialize in, you are incurring substantial losses.
Of course, you are also having fun, and that value should go into the equation. It doesn’t make any sense for people to only value impact on the world...and not value their own enjoyment. Right? Excluding your own utility from the optimization would be absurd.