Our Mission
Effective Altruism Tilburg supports students in finding the most effective ways they can improve the world.
Most of us want to make a difference. We see suffering, injustice and death, and are moved to do something about them. But working out what that ‘something’ is, let alone actually doing it, can be a challenging journey. Effective altruism is a response to this challenge.
We are a community of students focused on helping each other do as much good as possible with our lives and careers, combining our compassion with evidence and reasoning.
We run fellowships, talks, discussion groups, reading groups and regular socials, with conversations ranging from abstract philosophical concepts to practical things we can do in our daily lives. We have connections to a lot of professionals within effective altruism (EA) from all over the world to connect students with internships, grants, resources, and career guidance for highly impactful careers. We also intensively collaborate on bigger projects with other EA groups at universities in the Netherlands and beyond, and travel together to EA conferences.
Our values
Putting effective altruism into practice means acting in accordance with its core principles:
Commitment to Others
We take the well-being of others very seriously and are willing to take significant personal action in order to benefit others. What this entails can vary from person to person, and it's ultimately up to individuals to figure out what significant personal action looks like for them. In each case, however, the most essential commitment of effective altruism is to actively try to make the world a better place.
Scientific Mindset
We strive to base our actions on the best available evidence and reasoning about how the world works. We recognize how difficult it is to know how to do the most good, and therefore try to avoid overconfidence, seek out informed critiques of our own views, be open to unusual ideas, and take alternative points of view seriously.
Openness
We are a community united by our commitment to these principles, not to a specific cause. Our goal is to do as much good as we can, and we evaluate ways to do that without committing ourselves at the outset to any particular cause. We are open to focusing our efforts on any group of beneficiaries, and to using any reasonable methods to help them. If good arguments or evidence show that our current plans are not the best way of helping, we will change our beliefs and actions.
Integrity
Because we believe that trust, cooperation, and accurate information are essential to doing good, we strive to be honest and trustworthy. More broadly, we strive to follow those rules of good conduct that allow communities (and the people within them) to thrive. We also value the reputation of effective altruism and recognize that our actions reflect on it.
Collaborative Spirit
We affirm a commitment to building a friendly, open, and welcoming environment in which many different approaches can flourish, and in which a wide range of perspectives can be evaluated on their merits. In order to encourage cooperation and collaboration between people with widely varying circumstances and ways of thinking, we resolve to treat people of different worldviews, values, backgrounds, and identities kindly and respectfully.