EA - EA for people with non-technical skillsets by Ronja

Link to original articleWelcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: EA for people with non-technical skillsets, published by Ronja on September 20, 2022 on The Effective Altruism Forum. Summary: I have noticed some people, especially when they are new to the community, see prominent messaging around AI or biorisk and conclude that they, if they don't have a technical background, don't fit in the community or cannot have an impactful career. To make such careers more mentally available, I have compiled a list of examples. Mostly aimed at people who themselves feel discouraged because they feel like they "don't fit", and who haven't been in the community long enough to see the diversity of roles themselves. Thoughts on going forward with increasing visibility of such roles are at the bottom. Some thoughts to begin with Your University major is not the biggest determinator of whether you will have an impactful career. Also see: skills that make you most employable And "what drives success on average" in the Five philosophies of career success post: General intelligence and different aspects of intelligence, such as verbal or mathematical or perceptual, judgement and rationality, and creativity Practice and credentials Work ethic: conscientiousness, emotional stability, and grit Integrity Social skills e.g. social perceptiveness, extraversion, and agreeableness Interest match Context match e.g. mentorship and cultural fit And remember that disadvantages in one area can be offset through other areas, and that for such huge endeavours that EA tackles, we need a community with a portfolio of very different skills and mindsets. And that, while some people may be on paths that are less clearly lined out for them in advance, that does not mean that there is not a space where they slot in and can thrive while doing good. Direct work Example 1: Operations management Operations management is one of the highest-impact careers overall Profile:/ Podcast w Tanya Singh:/ In general, there are very many roles in organisations that play to different strengths; you really wouldn't want to work somewhere that was solely run by researchers. Example 2: Art, design and illustration Just like other companies, EA(-aligned) organisations need people who are skilled in making things pretty and appealing to audiences. An example is the new/ who produce longtermist video content (they are currently looking for animators!) Example 3: Communications Job profile:/ Journalism:/ Of course, incl Kelsey Piper: Example 4: Policy and politics I think this is fairly well-known, so here just a few links Research paths Check out/ Includes research ideas in media & communications, sociology, political science, law, business, and history. This is just a glimpse of what is possible, though! I bet you could, if you so desired, find exciting and impactful topics in any field. Example 1: History research Rose Hadshar's talk: A glimpse of her work: Research ideas in the history of social movements: Example 2: Behavioural science Daniel has a PhD in education and, when we last spoke, researched "security mindset" by interviewing people. Examples of people on their own paths Kikiope Oluwarore, who used her expertise as a veterinarian to co-found Healthier Hens. Liv Boeree, who used to be a famous poker player, then convinced other poker players to donate money, and who also used her influence in EA-adjacent Youtube videos. (Also note that there are people like Suzy Shepherd who shoot and cut and design those videos. Again - you don't have to be the face in the limelight) Thomas Moynihan, who (I think) studied history and then used that expertise to research and write a book about the history of the ideas of existential risks. Lizka Vaintrob, who manages the EA Forum and writes content for CEA. Varsha Venugopal, who studied urban and regional planning and international development, and...