Open and Welcome Thread: November 2020

By Aaron Gertler 🔸 @ 2020-11-02T11:04 (+12)

If you have something to share that doesn't feel like a full post, add it here! 

(You can also create a Shortform post.)

If you're new to the EA Forum, you can use this thread to introduce yourself! You could talk about how you found effective altruism, what causes you work on and care about, or personal details that aren't EA-related at all. 

(You can also put this info into your Forum bio.)

If you're new to effective altruism, consider checking out the Motivation Series (a collection of classic articles on EA). You can also learn more about how the Forum works on this page.

BenStewart @ 2020-11-09T11:33 (+20)

Hi, I'm Ben, currently a medical student at the University of Sydney. I did a double-degree undergraduate  in philosophy, international relations, and neuroscience. 

I've spent my MD doing bits and bobs in global health research and advocacy, and spent some time as an intern on the Bio team at the Future of Humanity Institute, Oxford. Next year I'll be spending some time at Vaxxas, a vaccine nanopatch company, finishing my MD, and figuring out my next steps.

Aaron Gertler @ 2020-11-09T11:37 (+6)

Hello, Ben! Welcome  to the Forum, and thanks for working on things that (presumably) have a chance of helping us not die in the next pandemic.

gietema @ 2020-11-09T23:09 (+16)

Hi, I'm Jochem. I am from The Netherlands but I am currently living in London. I'm working as a research engineer for Onfido, an AI-based identity verification company. My main work focuses on improving the uncertainty estimation and robustness of our models.

I've been following the EA community for a while but have never  participated in any conversations. The resumes of some of the people on this forum are just too impressive :).

Aaron Gertler @ 2020-11-10T22:19 (+5)

Hello, Jochem!

Don't be alarmed by resumes; the more people of all stripes participate in conversations here, the more we'll all learn.

Also, I'm a copyeditor and semi-professional Twitch streamer by trade; if I can participate on the site, research engineers should do just fine :-)

(Though of course, just hanging out and reading is also a totally valid way to use the Forum!)

qyng @ 2020-11-10T09:23 (+12)

Hello! New member here. I'm a Psychology major at the University of Sydney (holla at Ben, and other fellow Australians). I've dipped a toe in working at startups, and am hugely interested in anything psychology, technology, and design. I somehow stumbled across 80 000 hours, which led me here to EA. Thanks for the open welcome thread, keen to learn about everything.

Aaron Gertler @ 2020-11-10T22:20 (+4)

Welcome! I'm the lead moderator of the Forum and work on content for the Centre for Effective Altruism. I'm pretty familiar with EA literature in a lot of areas; if there's anything specific you'd like to read more about, feel free to ask.

BenStewart @ 2020-11-10T10:37 (+2)

Hey there! Nice to meet you. Send me a message if you want to chat more

EdoArad @ 2020-11-02T20:32 (+5)

I'm just curious about how many people will read and reply to this comment :)

evelynciara @ 2020-11-16T04:22 (+3)

You've got another customer.

JP Addison @ 2020-11-03T16:44 (+3)

What if I read it but don't feel like replying

EdoArad @ 2020-11-04T07:29 (+2)

Then you should feel proud of yourself for not indulging in unproductive semi-trolling 😊