Benjamin Todd

More ideas for impactful careers.

These categories aren't intended to be comprehensive.

There are lots of impactful options that don't naturally fit into them.

For example, experts in information security are sorely needed by organizations working to prevent AI-related and biological catastrophes.

There aren't very many trained information security experts to begin with, and only a few are trying to use their careers to solve these urgent problems.

To see a much longer list of ideas, which still isn't exhaustive, check out Appendix 8.

A Word of Caution Power, Harm, and Corruption

Sam Bankman-Fried founded the cryptocurrency exchange FTX with the stated goal of earning to give.

He briefly became the world's richest person under 30 and made large donations to pressing causes.

We previously featured him across our site as a positive example of someone pursuing a high-impact career.

Sam is now charged with fraud.

FTX collapsed into bankruptcy and billions of dollars of customer funds went missing.

This has done a lot of harm to individual depositors and society, both through the money lost and the indirect harms of criminal activity.

It may have also harmed the reputation of the causes he was supporting, and the idea of earning to give in general.

For our part, we felt betrayed and shaken when we found out what had happened, and ashamed of our past promotion of him.

Now seems clear that even if Sam told himself that the rewards justified the risks, that was totally wrong.

How might this be relevant to you?

Each of the five paths covered in this chapter offers ways to substantially increase the amount that you can contribute to solving a problem.

but generally, the greater your ability to contribute, the greater your ability to do harm, whether by making a substantial mistake, supporting the wrong issues, or acting unethically.

Moreover, as you gain more ability to affect the world, you may face more temptations to act badly.