There are two questions here. The first is how you trade off the value you place on your own welfare vs the value you place on the welfare of distant others. And the second is how having extra cash will benefit your mental health, energy levels, free time, etc. and whether by improving those attributes of yours you’ll increase the odds of doing more good for the world in the future.
I consider myself a pretty hardcore EA; I gave $20K to charity last year. But this year I’m saving all my money so my earning-to-give startup will have a bigger cash buffer. And I spend about $100/month on random stuff from Amazon that I think will make my life better (a weighted jump rope for exercising with, an acupressure mat for relaxing more effectively, nootropics, Larry Gonick’s cartoon guides to the history of the universe so I can relax & educate myself away from my computer, etc.)
So I guess the point I’m trying to make is you don’t even have to deal with the first values question if you decide that investing in yourself is a good investment from a long-run EA perspective. Don’t be penny-wise and pound-foolish… your mental energy is limited and if you find wet feet at all stressful, it’s worth considering replacing your shoes even before personal welfare gets added in to the equation.
In other words, I personally am more optimistic about you spending all of your money on yourself and spending some of your time and energy on a credible plan for significantly increasing your future EA impact than I am about you donating spare cash to charity and not spending any time and energy and such a credible plan. (In general, I suspect that the potential EA impact of time and energy is underrated; this article gives a good explanation.)
There are two questions here. The first is how you trade off the value you place on your own welfare vs the value you place on the welfare of distant others. And the second is how having extra cash will benefit your mental health, energy levels, free time, etc. and whether by improving those attributes of yours you’ll increase the odds of doing more good for the world in the future.
I consider myself a pretty hardcore EA; I gave $20K to charity last year. But this year I’m saving all my money so my earning-to-give startup will have a bigger cash buffer. And I spend about $100/month on random stuff from Amazon that I think will make my life better (a weighted jump rope for exercising with, an acupressure mat for relaxing more effectively, nootropics, Larry Gonick’s cartoon guides to the history of the universe so I can relax & educate myself away from my computer, etc.)
So I guess the point I’m trying to make is you don’t even have to deal with the first values question if you decide that investing in yourself is a good investment from a long-run EA perspective. Don’t be penny-wise and pound-foolish… your mental energy is limited and if you find wet feet at all stressful, it’s worth considering replacing your shoes even before personal welfare gets added in to the equation.
In other words, I personally am more optimistic about you spending all of your money on yourself and spending some of your time and energy on a credible plan for significantly increasing your future EA impact than I am about you donating spare cash to charity and not spending any time and energy and such a credible plan. (In general, I suspect that the potential EA impact of time and energy is underrated; this article gives a good explanation.)
Thanks for the link; very helpful and interesting.