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EA Aachen Newsletter: Third edition of May 2020
by Effective Altruism Aachen e.V. 25 May '20

25 May '20

Dear followers of EA Aachen, we are excited to announce our next two online events in this edition of our newsletter. Also note that you can follow us on our Facebook Page <https://www.facebook.com/EAAachen/> and that you can subscribe to our public calendar <https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/qhm3972bqtpu5uu8o1vrff9eao%40grou…> to absolutely make sure to not miss any event! Also, in case you haven't registered yet: Remember to sign up for the EAGx Virtual <https://www.eaglobal.org/events/eagxvirtual2020/>, the largest EA conference in history. *Discussion on Effective Altruism in Government: 27th of May* This Wednesday we will discuss the role Effective Altruists can play in government. We will start by watching together a talk <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g05om2NJwco> together by Jason Matheny <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Gaverick_Matheny> on this very issue. Jason is an EA who has had many highly influential roles in his career. He is the Founding Director of the Center for Security and Emerging Technologies <https://cset.georgetown.edu> at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. and previously served as Director of IARPA <https://www.iarpa.gov/index.php/about-iarpa> for the US Government. He also worked previously at the Future of Humanity Institute in Oxford and is one of the first people who proposed researching cultured meat. Depending on the interests of the participants, we will proceed to discuss issues brought up by the talk or completely unrelated ideas. We look forward to seeing many of you there! *Date and Time: *Wednesday, 27th of May, 19:00 - 21:00 *Zoom Link:* https://rwth.zoom.us/j/612131872?pwd=TDFrNEIzNnFWaUd4TiswTjgzZGhKUT09 <https://www.google.com/url?q=https://rwth.zoom.us/j/612131872?pwd%3DTDFrNEI…> *Meeting ID: *612 131 872 *Password*: 051904 *Discussion on AI Governance: 3rd of June* AI Governance is an emerging field dealing with the ways we can address the challenge of Advanced Artificial Intelligence on a policy level. We will kick-off our discussion by watching a talk <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4al_hS_CCm8> on the landscape of AI Governance by a researcher from the Future of Humanity Institute from Oxford University. We will proceed to discuss AI Governance as a group and build on the insights from the presentation. *Date and Time: *Wednesday, 3rd of June, 19:00 - 21:00 *Zoom Link:* https://rwth.zoom.us/j/612131872?pwd=TDFrNEIzNnFWaUd4TiswTjgzZGhKUT09 <https://www.google.com/url?q=https://rwth.zoom.us/j/612131872?pwd%3DTDFrNEI…> *Meeting ID: *612 131 872 *Password*: 051904

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EA Aachen Newsletter: Second edition of May 2020
by Effective Altruism Aachen e.V. 17 May '20

17 May '20

Dear followers of EA Aachen, we are excited to announce two interesting events in this edition of our newsletter. Also note that you can follow us on our Facebook Page <https://www.facebook.com/EAAachen/> and that you can subscribe to our public calendar <https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/qhm3972bqtpu5uu8o1vrff9eao%40grou…> to absolutely make sure to not miss any event! *Discussion on Social Enterpreneurship: 20th of May* In our next weekly meeting, we will deal with the topic *Social Enterpreneurship*. We will start by watching the following Lightning Talks <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj1_09k9WWg&feature=emb_logo> by various founders of charities in different problem areas together. The talks should provide insight into charity founding in general but also into the problem ares Global Health, Animal Welfare and Mental Health which the charities of the speakers try to tackle. Depending on the interests of the participants, we will proceed to discuss issues like charity founding in general, interesting ideas brought up by the founders or things completely unrelated to the talk. We look forward to seeing many of you there! *Date and Time: *Wednesday, 20th of May, 19:00 - 21:00 *Zoom Link:* https://rwth.zoom.us/j/612131872?pwd=TDFrNEIzNnFWaUd4TiswTjgzZGhKUT09 <https://www.google.com/url?q=https://rwth.zoom.us/j/612131872?pwd%3DTDFrNEI…> *Meeting ID: *612 131 872 *Password*: 051904 *EAGx Virtual: 12th - 14th of June* We are excited to share with you the announcement of the EA Global X Virtual 2020 this June! We except this virtual conference to be valuable for all of you and encourage you to register. In case you are unsure whether you are a good fit or want to talk with someone in a more private setting about EA before participating, feel free to schedule a personal chat with one of our board via our website <https://ea-aachen.org/talk-to-us?fbclid=IwAR1nKqNH8LQmS7wwwPyqzI1NuJ6LjBRzu…>. We can answer your questions, point you to resources and advice you how to make the most out of the conference! But now to the official announcement: *EAGx organizers from many different countries are uniting to deliver EAGxVirtual 2020, a program of events spanning all time zones, bringing together the global EA community for a weekend of connection and reflection.Applications will be open until the beginning of the conference on Friday, 12 June. However, if you wish to be considered for mentorship programs or helping to moderate content, please apply by the end of Monday, 18 May (UK Time).The main focus of EAGxVirtual will be one-on-one meetings between attendees, but there will also be a range of live and pre-recorded content including talks, live Q&As, speed meetings, and group discussions. The conference will be suitable for anyone who has had at least minimal involvement with EA (for example, if they've read a few articles or a book).More information, and the application form here: https://www.eaglobal.org/events/eagxvirtual2020/ <https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eaglobal.org%2Fevents%2Fea…>*

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Introductory EA Online Discussion - Wednesday 7pm
by Effective Altruism Aachen e.V. 12 May '20

12 May '20

Hey everyone, we from Effective Altruism Aachen are back from isolation and excited to announce a new public event tomorrow! We will have a casual discussion centered around core ideas within effective altruism and talk about how we can improve the world together. This event is especially suitable for newcomers. So no matter whether you met us just today or you are following our newsletter for quite some time: If you never quite made the move to join us at our events, now is a great time to do so! That being said, we are sure that this event will also be valuable for more experienced members of our group! For example, hearing what different participants find fascinating about EA should be an interesting experience providing diverse perspectives for all of us. We will meet at 7pm on Wednesday (13th of May) on Zoom. Zoom Link: https://rwth.zoom.us/j/612131872?pwd%3DTDFrNEIzNnFWaUd4TiswTjgzZGhKUT09&sa=… <https://rwth.zoom.us/j/612131872?pwd%3DTDFrNEIzNnFWaUd4TiswTjgzZGhKUT09&sa=…> We’re looking forward to seeing all of you there! Stay safe, Your EA Aachen Team

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Effective Altruism Aachen - Corona
by Effective Altruism Aachen e.V. 14 Mar '20

14 Mar '20

Dear followers of our EA Aachen Newsletter, we hope you are all doing well, especially in light of the current Corona outbreak. As you probably expected, there will be some changes to our usual procedures and events due to the virus: From now on *until at least Wednesday 08.04* (including) the following holds: - Weekly Meetings (Wednesday): There will be *no weekly meetings* (this includes organisational meetings + presentations and open meetings). This means that the next scheduled weekly meeting will not be before the 15th of April. - *We encourage you to reduce your social contacts* - within and outside of the EA community - to a bare minimum. This includes a recommendation against meeting in the various subgroups of our local group (e.g. Career Group). This is based on our understanding of the virus as a threat to society that has to be tackled by swift action. We wish you all the best and look forward to meeting you again next semester! Board of EA Aachen | Anton, Marcel, Rafael, Tom

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Open Meetup - 'Nuclear Disarmament'
by Tom Lieberum 08 Mar '20

08 Mar '20

--- English version below --- Liebe Abonennten, Unser nächstes offenes Treffen ist am Mittwoch den 11.03.2020, im C.A.R.L. Hörsaalzentrum im Seminarraum S08, von 19:30 bis 21:00 Wie wahrscheinlich ist es, dass wir Zeuge eines US-Russland Nuklearkonfliktes werden? Wie schlimm könnte es werden? Wie viele Menschen könnten durch die Folgen eines nuklearen Schlagabtausches sterben? Diese und andere Fragen hat sich Luisa Rodriguez von Rethink Priorities näher angeschaut. Wir werden uns einen Vortrag von ihr anhören und nukleare Abrüstung als möglichen EA Fokusbereich diskutieren. Die Treffen sind offen für alle. Also auch wenn ihr noch nie vom Effektiven Altruismus gehört habt könnt ihr gerne vorbeischauen! Viele Grüße, Tom | Effective Altruism Aachen e.V. --- English version --- Dear subscribers, Our next open meetup is on Wednesday, March 11th, 2020, in the C.A.R.L. lecture center in room S08, from 7:30pm to 9pm. How likely is it that we will see an US-Russia nuclear conflict? How bad could it be? How many people might die of the consequences? These and other questions have been tackled by Luisa Rodriguez from Rethink Priorities. We will watch a talk by her and discuss nuclear disarmament as a potential EA cause. The meetings are open to anyone. So even if you've never heard of Effective Altruism, we're happy to see you. Cheers, Tom | Effective Altruism Aachen e.V.

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COVID-19
by Tom Lieberum 03 Mar '20

03 Mar '20

--- English version below --- Liebe Abonennten, trotz der momentane Verbreitung von SARS-CoV-2 werden wir vorläufig unsere wöchentlichen Treffen fortsetzen. Allerdings würden wir jeden mit Erkältungs-/Grippesymptomen bitten, zu Hause zu bleiben um die Ansteckungsgefahr für alle Teilnehmer zu minimieren. Wenn ihr erfahren wollt wie ihr euch und andere gut schützen könnt, empfehlen wir folgende Links: https://www.infektionsschutz.de/coronavirus-sars-cov-2.html https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/index.html https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/HbqQyTDjvw2wGGKYw/covid-19-brief-… Viele Grüße, Tom Lieberum | Effective Altruism Aachen e.V. --- English version --- Dear subscribers, despite the ongoing spread of SARS-CoV-2, we are for now still having our weekly meetings. However, to limit risk to all participants, we would like to ask anyone with flue or cold symptoms to stay at home for now. If you want to learn how to protect you and others, we recommend these links: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/HbqQyTDjvw2wGGKYw/covid-19-brief-… https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/index.html Cheers, Tom Lieberum | Effective Altruism Aachen e.V.

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Open Meetup / Offenes Treffen 'Career planning'
by Tom Lieberum 01 Mar '20

01 Mar '20

--- English version below --- Liebe Abonennten, Unser nächstes offenes Treffen ist am Mittwoch den 04.03.2020, im C.A.R.L. Hörsaalzentrum im Seminarraum S08, von 18:30 bis 21:00 Bei diesem Treffen dreht sich alles rund um die eigene Karriereplanung. In der CareerGroup lesen wir den Karriereguide von 80.000 hours. Für kommende Woche können alle Interessierten das Kapitel "Our Priority Paths" lesen (Link: https://80000hours.org/key-ideas/#priority-paths). Beim Treffen werden wir darüber sprechen und die Ideen auf die eigene Karriereplanung anwenden. Die Treffen sind offen für alle. Also auch wenn ihr noch nie vom Effektiven Altruismus gehört habt könnt ihr gerne vorbeischauen! Viele Grüße, Tom | Effective Altruism Aachen e.V. --- English version --- Dear subscribers, Our next open meetup is on Wednesday, March 4th, 2020, in the C.A.R.L. lecture center in room S08, from 6:30pm to 9pm. This meetup will be all about personal career planning. In the CareerGroup we are reading the career guide by 80.000 Hours. For next week, everyone who is interested can prepare by reading the chapter 'Our Priority Paths' (Link: https://80000hours.org/key-ideas/#priority-paths). During the meetup we will talk about the ideas mentioned therein and how to apply them to our own career planning. The meetings are open to anyone. So even if you've never heard of Effective Altruism, we're happy to see you. Cheers, Tom | Effective Altruism Aachen e.V.

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Open Meetup / Offenes Treffen
by Tom Lieberum 23 Feb '20

23 Feb '20

--- English version below --- Liebe Abonennten, Unser nächstes offenes Treffen ist am Mittwoch den 26.02.2020, im C.A.R.L. Hörsaalzentrum im Seminarraum S08, von 19:30 bis 21:00. Leben wir in der einflussreichsten Zeit der Menschheitsgeschichte? Es scheint erstmal absurd diese Frage zu stellen. Aber man kann sich folgendes fragen: Wenn die Zukunft deutlich mehr Einfluss auf das langfristige Wohlergehen der Menschheit hat - sollten effektive Altruisten ihre Resourcen dann nicht an die kommenden Generationen weitergeben? Deshalb werden wir die Frage aufbauend auf einem Foren-Post des Philosophen William MacAskill diskutieren. Die Treffen sind offen für alle. Also auch wenn ihr noch nie von Effektivem Altruismus gehört habt, freuen wir uns euch zu sehen. Viele Grüße, Tom | Effective Altruism Aachen e.V. --- English version --- Dear subscribers, Our next open meetup is on Wednesday, February 26th, 2020, in the C.A.R.L. lecture center in room S08, from 7:30pm to 9pm. Do we live in the most influential time in history? This question might seem far fetched. But think about it: If the future would be way more influential for the longterm good of humanity than the present - shouldn't effective altruists pass on their resources to future generations? That's why we will discuss the question based on a famous forum post from philosopher William MacAskill. The meetings are open to anyone. So even if you've never heard of Effective Altruism, we're happy to see you. Cheers, Tom | Effective Altruism Aachen e.V.

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Offenes Treffen / Open Meetup
by Tom Lieberum 13 Feb '20

13 Feb '20

--- English version below --- Liebe Abonennten, Unser nächstes offenes Treffen ist am Mittwoch den 19.02.2020, im C.A.R.L. Hörsaalzentrum im Seminarraum S08, von 18:30 bis 21:00 "Wie kann ich mit meinen begrenzten Ressourcen möglichst viel Gutes tun?" Diese Fragestellung versucht der effektive Altruismus zu beantworten. Das heißt: "Welche Probleme sind wichtig? Welche sind vernachlässigt? Wo kann ich am meisten bewirken?" Die Treffen sind offen für alle. Also auch wenn ihr noch nie vom Effektiven Altruismus gehört habt könnt ihr gerne vorbeischauen! Viele Grüße, Tom | Effective Altruism Aachen e.V. --- English version --- Dear subscribers, Our next open meetup is on Wednesday, February 19th, 2020, in the C.A.R.L. lecture center in room S08, from 6:30pm to 9pm. "How can I do the most good with my limited resources?" Effective Altruism tries to tackle this question, to break it down: "Which problems are important? Which are neglected? Where can I have the most impact?" The meetings are open to anyone. So even if you've never heard of Effective Altruism, we're happy to see you. Cheers, Tom | Effective Altruism Aachen e.V.

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Open Meetup / Offenes Treffen
by Tom Lieberum 07 Feb '20

07 Feb '20

--- English version below --- Liebe Abonennten, Unser nächstes offenes Treffen ist am Mittwoch den 12.02.2020, im C.A.R.L. Hörsaalzentrum im Seminarraum S08, von 19:30 bis 21:00. Künstliche Intelligenz (KI) spielt bereits in der heutigen (Informations-)Wirtschaft eine zunehmende Rolle und alles deutet darauf hin, dass dies weiter zunehmen wird. In seinem Buch 'Human Compatible' bespricht KI Koryphäe Stuart Russel die möglichen Chancen von AI, welche Risiken es gibt und wie wir das grundlegende Ziel von KI verändern sollten um keinen Schaden zu verursachen. In einem Talk werden wir das Buch kurz vorstellen, sowie einen kurzen Einblick geben, warum das Thema KI für effektive Altruisten relevant sein könnte. Anschließend freuen wir uns auf die Diskussion mit euch! Die Treffen sind offen für alle. Also auch wenn ihr noch nie von Effektivem Altruismus gehört habt, freuen wir uns euch zu sehen. Viele Grüße, Tom | Effective Altruism Aachen e.V. --- English version --- Dear subscribers, Our next open meetup is on Wednesday, February 12th, 2020, in the C.A.R.L. lecture center in room S08, from 7:30pm to 9pm. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already a significant part of todays information economy and we can assume this trend to continue. In his new book 'Human Compatible', AI expert Stuart Russel presents the chances and downsides of AI and makes the case that we should reformulate the fundamental objective of AI systems to ensure benign outcomes. We will give a short presentation of the book as well as why this topic might be of interest of effective altruists. Afterwards we will have a group discussion about the topics of the talk. The meetings are open to anyone. So even if you've never heard of Effective Altruism, we're happy to see you. Cheers, Tom | Effective Altruism Aachen e.V.

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