“Introducing The Spending What We Must Pledge” by Thomas Kwa🔹

<p> Epistemic status: highly certain, or something</p><p><strong> The Spending What We Must 💸11% pledge&nbsp;</strong></p><p> In short: Members pledge to spend at least 11% of their income on effectively increasing their own productivity.</p><p> This pledge is likely higher-impact for most people than the Giving What We Can 🔸10% Pledge, and we also think the name accurately reflects the non-supererogatory moral beliefs of many in the EA community.</p><p><strong> Example</strong></p><p> Charlie is a software engineer for the Centre for Effective Future Research. Since Charlie has taken the SWWM 💸11% pledge, rather than splurge on a vacation, they decide to buy an expensive noise-canceling headset before their next EAG, allowing them to get slightly more sleep and have 104 one-on-one meetings instead of just 101. In one of the extra three meetings, they chat with Diana, who is starting an AI-for-worrying-about-AI company, and decide to become a cofounder. The company becomes wildly successful, and Charlie's equity share allows them to further increase their productivity to the point of diminishing marginal returns, then donate $50 billion to SWWM.</p><p><strong> The 💸💸💸 Badge</strong></p><p> If you've taken the SWWM 💸11% Pledge, we'd appreciate if you could add three 💸💸💸 "stacks of money with wings" emoji to your social [...]</p> <p>---</p><p><strong>Outline:</strong></p><p>(00:14) The Spending What We Must 💸11% pledge</p><p>(00:39) Example</p><p>(01:25) The 💸💸💸 Badge</p><p>(01:53) FAQ</p><p>(01:57) Is the pledge legally binding?</p><p>(02:07) What do you mean by effectively increasing productivity?</p><p>(02:32) Im an AI system. Can I take the 💸11% pledge?</p><p>(03:22) Why is the 💸11% pledge 3x more effective than the 🔸10% pledge?</p> <p>---</p> <p><b>First published:</b><br/> April 1st, 2025 </p> <p><b>Source:</b><br/> <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/qCDad9dWE5hDkYevK/introducing-the-spending-what-we-must-pledge?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Source+URL+in+episode+description&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/qCDad9dWE5hDkYevK/introducing-the-spending-what-we-must-pledge</a> </p> <p>---</p> <p>Narrated by <a href="https://type3.audio/?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Narrated+by+TYPE+III+AUDIO&utm_term=ea_forum&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TYPE III AUDIO</a>.</p> <p>---</p><div style="max-width: 100%";><p><strong>Images from the article:</strong></p><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/qCDad9dWE5hDkYevK/bd52ycf43cruaxtrpiym" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/qCDad9dWE5hDkYevK/bd52ycf43cruaxtrpiym" alt="According to our analysis, the SWWM 💸11% pledge is much more impactful than the 🔸10% pledge." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><p><em>Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try <a href="https://pocketcasts.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Pocket Casts</a>, or another podcast app.</em></p></div>