May 2023 Newsletter
May 2023 Newsletter
Ride the waves of impact by taking a refresher at our latest newsletter
Hey there!
As the days keep getting warmer and the sun shines brighter, it can be easy to feel drained and exhausted from doing the most good. But fear not, for we have a refreshing edition of our newsletter to help you stay cool and energized while maximizing your social impact in the world.
For our newsletter this month, we bring you the latest highlights on what transpired at our recent Komunidad Meet-up for April— where we had an Authentic Relating Workshop and our townhall meeting on the same day— and the collaboration event of our student chapters and Effective Thesis— where student chapters from EA Blue, EA Taft, and EA UP Diliman had a joint venture and organized an event with Effective Thesis, and the localized and translated version of Doing Good Better— where a team of composed of our community members were able to start and translate the Introduction and First Chapter of the introductory to EA book.
In addition, alongside our highlights are the ingenious updates from our student chapters, EA Blue and EA UP Diliman.
So grab a cold drink, sit back, and take a deep dive into our newsletter for this month!
Highlights
EA PH Student Chapters hosts collaboration event with Effective Thesis
As a full joint initiative, our student chapters— EA Blue, EA Taft, and EA UP Diliman— would like to thank all the students who joined them for the virtual session on 'Changing the World by Doing Research' last April 25 with Conor Spence from Effective Thesis.
Conor Spence took the students through a framework of picking the right research direction, how to think about your thesis, and how you can use the platform of Effective Thesis to best support you. In this way, student attendees learned valuable insights on how their research or thesis topics have the potential to change and improve the world.
Effective Thesis is a nonprofit organization that guides ambitious students from all academic levels achieve their research goals and create meaningful contributions to society— starting with their thesis.
You can stay tuned for future events from Effective Altruism Philippines’ student chapters by following them— EA Blue, EA Taft, and EA UP Diliman
EA Philippines’ Komunidad Meet-up last April
EA Philippines held their 'Komunidad' meet-up for this April last month at the Bayanihan Cafe.
Among the highlights of this meet-up is the Authentic Relating Workshop facilitated by Simmo Simpson where attendees were able to learn and practice the skills to build deeper connections and our town hall meeting where the EA PH Core team discussed and elaborated more about the recent 6-month grant and the upcoming plans for the months to come. Read more
Localized and Translated Version of Doing Good Better
Headed by Tanya Quijano, a group of volunteers— Celestine Rosales, Faith Lawas, and Paolo Kalagayan, started making a translated and localized version of William MacAskills’ famous introductory to EA book, Doing Good Better. So far, the team were able to translate the Introduction and first chapter of the book. Instead of directly and literally translating these, the team managed to localize it— having some parts changed to make it relevant to Filipino readers but still retaining the essence and reasoning of the original text.
Check out below for the localized and translated Introduction and first chapter of Doing Good Better:
• Panimula: Bulate at Poso? Paano ka makagagawa ng pinakamabuti?
• Swerte ka pa rin: gaano kalaki ang maitutulong mo sa iba?
2nd Lightning Talks of the IIDM Reading Group
After a successful IIDM Lightning talks last March, the IIDM Reading Group held another set of lightning talks with its participants. Sharing their radical insights were Paolo Kalagayan on a case study of the Digital Democracy in Taiwan, Frauline Badua on Representing Future Generations, and Robin Madlangbayan on Strategies to Improve Political Decision-making.
You can check out their presentatons here.
The IIDM reading group is also planning another IIDM-related event sometime in June. It might be a workshop where attendees can learn to apply IIDM tools, approaches, and interventions to actual policy problems, so stay tuned for updates!
Our Reading Group Program
Have you ever wanted to discuss a certain cause area from an EA book or resource you read?
Here is your chance with the Reading Group Program!
Simply form a group of at least 3 people, choose a main point-person, and book a call with our associate director, Alethea Cendaña!
You can read more about the reading program here.
Order an EA Book from us
Eyeing an EA-related book lately? Order it from our book form!
Simply fill up the details, check out the available books, order a book that you genuinely want to read, and send out your order form to us!
Kindly note that it may take up to 4 weeks for your book to arrive. We'll email you with more details on your order and once it is ready to be distributed out.
You can start ordering the book you are interested in through here until June 22!
News in EA Blue
Introductory Fellowship 05: Lightning Talks
EA Blue capped off its 5th cycle of their Introductory Fellowship last May 2, 2023 for its first cohort (top photo) and May 3, 2023 for its 2nd cohort (bottom photo) of fellows. During these sessions, fellows either produced a capstone project or conducted a lightning talk about an EA-aligned organization that piqued their interest.
Conducting Lightning Talks is a traditional last hurrah to every Introductory Fellowship. These talks allow fellows to share how they plan to apply their learnings from the IF to their daily life. During the event, fellows also met guests eager to share their expertise on the fellows’ chosen topics.
AfterPartEA Socials
To commemorate the success of EA Blue’s 5th Introductory Fellowship and the graduation of the fellows, a virtual After PartEA was conducted via Zoom last May 6, 2023. Games and an awarding ceremony for fellows were conducted during the event.
Follow EA Blue for future updates!
News in EA UP Diliman
FEAsta Midsem Starter
EA UPD’s FEAsta was a blast!
Last April 28, our members and applicants gathered for a general assembly and a festive socials night at the Student Union Building. The general assembly provided exciting updates on the org's accomplishments and upcoming plans for the semester. The rest of the night was filled by a series of Filipino party games and socials.
Back-to-Back TEA Time Sessions
Last April 20 and May 4, EA UPD members spent some delightful time together at our TEA Time sharing sessions, where they talked about various interests and the latest news.
The topics included Forecasting Course led by Jester De Torres, Global Challenges Project Workshop led by Lexley Villasis, Confidence in Connection led by Feil Aquino, and Internship Diaries led by Jasmin De Jesus.
Read more about the sessions here and here.
Upcoming events in EA UP Diliman
The second iteration of EA UPD’s Introductory Workshop to Effective Altruism will be held on May 17 at the Student Union Building in UP Diliman!
The theme this time is on “Ineffective Altruism: When Good Intention Doesn’t Translate Good Outcome” and will explore what we can do when well-intentioned programs relay inefficient, band-aid solutions. The event is open to all UP system students and professionals.
Follow EA UP Diliman for more details on signups and future updates!
Organizational Spotlight: ALLFED
Get to know more of ALLFED and their research on resilient foods here
Upcoming Conferences
If you’re considering applying, kindly check first this forum post on updates on spending for CEA-run events.
• EAGxNYC
[Aug 18-20, 2023]
[Deadline: July 31, 2023]
[June 9-11, 2023]
[Deadline: May 19, 2023]
• EAGxPhilippines
[Oct 20-22, 2023]
[Applications will open soon!]
• EA Global Boston 2023
[Oct 27-29, 2023]
[Deadline: October 12, 2023]
Check out the EA Global website to be updated with upcoming events!
Upcoming Workshops
Global Challenges Project Existential Risks Workshop
• June 30 - July 3, 2023 Berkeley, USA
[Deadline: May 21, 2023]
• July 21 -July 24, 2023 Oxford, UK
• Aug 11 -Aug 14, 2023 Boston, US
Express your interest while slots are available through here
Key Phenomena in AI Risk Reading Group
• Between July - August, 7 weeks in duration
Sign-up here before May 28, Sunday
News relevant to the Philippines
Be in the loop with local news and resources.
• Transforming hand-washing practices in the Philippines
(3 mins. read)
• Accessing healthcare after a catastrophic earthquake on the West Valley Fault line
(4 mins. read)
• Approval of the Social Protection Floor (SPF) recommendation
(3 mins. read)
• Providing Publicly Available Data on Long-Run Social and Economic Development in the Philippines
(1 min. read)
• Can a teleserye help alleviate poverty?
(4 mins. read)
• Microplastics present in Metro Manila air - study
(6 mins. read)
Foreign EA-related news
For this month, we have various updates across different cause areas. Check them out and get refreshed on the latest news.
• Upcoming EA conferences in 2023
— by Ollie Base
(1 min. read)
• Are We Near The End Of Animal Testing?
— James Özden and Amy Odene
(9 mins. read)
— by Kelsey Piper
(6 mins. read)
• How much should you research your career?
— by Benjamin Todd
(2 mins. read)
• Existential espionage: How intelligence gathering can protect humanity
— by Rumtin Sepasspou
(16 mins. read)
• Predicting the cost-effectiveness of deploying a new intervention
— by Falk Lieder, Izzy Gainsburg, Sam Nolan, and Emily Corwin-Renner
(11 mins. read)
• Global giving tracking could be key to reaching UN goals
— by Stephanie Beasley
(5 mins. read)
• AI 'godfather' Geoffrey Hinton warns of dangers as he quits Google
— by Zoe Kleinman & Chris Vallance
(5 mins. read)
Some interesting reads
A list of some interesting and detailed resources we found
• A write-up on the biosecurity landscape in China
— by Chloe Lee
(8 mins. read)
• More like 88,000 hours? In defence of “career longtermism” – a personal perspective
— by Tilly P.
(8 mins. read)
• How 5 billion bugs will help fight dengue fever in Brazil
— by Philip Drost
(5 mins. read)
• The 'Don't Look Up' Thinking That Could Doom Us With AI
— by Max Tegmark
(13 mins. read)
• The one number that determines how today’s policies will affect our grandchildren
— by Kelsey Piper
(6 mins. read)
• Probabilities, Prioritization, and 'Bayesian Mindset'
— by Violet Hour
(29 mins. read)
• My Assessment of the Chinese AI Safety Community
— by Lao Mein
(3 mins. read)
Opportunities in EA-aligned organizations
Below are some featured opportunities that are accessible to Filipinos from our Opportunities Board. It shows all the current opportunities available (full-time, part-time, internship, and volunteer opportunities). It also has links to other relevant places where you can find impactful jobs, and we also include there how we choose which jobs to feature.
Our opportunities board has remote jobs from foreign EA organizations, and also some roles at local organizations that we either think are impactful to work for, or they provide good experience and skills for making an impact later on.
Remote opportunities from foreign EA-aligned organizations
Director of Communications - Material Innovation Initiative
[Deadline: June 30, 2023]
Operations Director - Animal Charity Evaluators
[Deadline: May 28, 2023]
Research Liaison - Faunalytics
[Deadline: May 28, 2023]
Research Analyst / Junior Research Analyst - Biosecurity & Pandemic Preparedness - Open Philanthropy
[Deadline: May 28, 2023]
Research Communicator - Giving What We Can
[Deadline: May 28, 2023]
Research Manager - Effective Institutions Project
[Deadline: May 22, 2023]
Executive Assistant - Foresight Institute
[Rolling Applications]
Research Engineer - Fund for Alignment Research
[Rolling Applications]
Research Analyst - Charity Entrepreneurship
[Rolling Applications]
Learn or deepen your knowledge on the core ideas of EA
Introductory EA Program - Effective Altruism Virtual Programs
Starts from June 05- July 30
[Deadline: May 21, 2023]
In-Depth EA Program - Effective Altruism Virtual Programs
Starts from June 05- July 30
[Deadline: May 21, 2023]
The Precipice Reading Group - Effective Altruism Virtual Programs
Starts from June 05- July 30
[Deadline: May 21, 2023]
Take the challenge and participate in these Opportunities
Create a visual map of the AGI safety ecosystem - Superlinear
[No deadline specified as of the moment]
Most Important Century Writing Prize - Superlinear
[No deadline specified as of the moment]
[For Ages 14-20] Start solving the world's most pressing problems - Non Trivial
Starts July 10- Sept 2, 2023
[Deadline: June 11, 2023]
Opportunities for Filipino EAs
Associate Director - IDInsight Philippines
[No deadline specified as of the moment]
Research Manager - Innovations for Poverty Action
[Rolling Applications]
Senior Research Associate-Innovations for Poverty Action
[Rolling Applications]
EA Philippines’ Code of Conduct
The EA Philippines core team recently created the official Effective Altruism Philippines Code of Conduct in hopes to facilitate a constructive and meaningful collaboration among individuals. In order to achieve this objective, we have established some guidelines that we expect our community to adhere by as our local community slowly grows.
EA Philippines Anonymous Feedback Form
As a response to some of our members noting that sometimes it is uncomfortable for them to provide direct feedback to some EA PH members, we decided to create this form so you may raise any concerns you have related to EA Philippines, including on any of our projects, leaders, volunteers, or community members.
Feedback here will be visible to the EA Philippines core team: Elmerei Cuevas, Althy Cendaña, Tanya Quijano, Jay Chang, and Brian Tan.
We may follow up with your answers via chat or a call if you would like us to.
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Best,
EA Philippines