I've always sought to live a truly meaningful life. In my early adulthood, I explored various different philosophies, wrestling with what it really means to live ethically. Now, I’m the CEO of Effective Altruism Australia, where we help connect Australians to impactful charities and act on EA principles.
I've always been a sensitive person, and there was a long period of time where I would watch the news and cry because of all of the suffering in the world. I keenly felt a sense of inequality and really struggled to understand why the world was so unfair. I wanted to be a good person, but I didn't necessarily know how. I was donating and doing some pro-bono work for a local homelessness charity, but I struggled to reconcile my narrow focus on local causes with my belief that everyone in the world is equally important.
I first heard about effective altruism when a friend at work organized a talk by Peter Singer and the EA organization Giving What We Can. Hearing that your dollar could go 100 times further overseas really struck me. Of course, if I could help a hundred times more people, I wanted to do that. The world felt so vastly unequal and here was a very clear solution to how I could reduce that inequality.
“One of the reasons that I think effective altruism really resonated with me is the chance to alleviate as much suffering as possible.”
It became clear to me that living in line with the value of impartial compassion meant shifting my giving to organizations focused on alleviating extreme poverty in the global south. I also dramatically increased the amount that I give.
"To me, effective altruism is about creating a world where everyone is equal and everyone has the opportunity to thrive."
For most of my adult life, I've dealt with serious chronic illnesses. While this has been really challenging, I think it has helped me to become more altruistic. As someone who experienced 24/7 pain for a number of years, effective altruism really resonated with me — it is a chance to alleviate as much suffering as possible. It is easy to get lost in the overwhelm of everything going on in the world, or get stuck in the feeling that it's too difficult to make progress. In those times, I try to remember the immense amount of good that we can do.
I feel like I'm living a much more meaningful life than I would have without EA. When the people around you care about making the world better and are willing to make sacrifices, taking big actions no longer feels weird or out of place. To anyone who is new to effective altruism, my advice would be: spend time with these lovely, inspiring people.
