Effective Altruism at UCLA
Effective Altruism is about answering one simple question: how can we best improve the world?
Most of us want to make a difference. We see suffering, injustice and death, and are moved to do something about it. But working out what that ‘something’ is, let alone actually doing it, can be a difficult and disheartening challenge. Effective Altruism is a response to this challenge.
Effective Altruism is a growing social movement with university chapters at most top universities around the world. The movement is based on the idea that good intentions alone, while admirable, are not enough to have an impact. Instead, we are committed to combining compassion with reasoning and evidence so that our choices do the most good possible. With this broad approach, we tackle some of the most challenging questions of our era: what global problems should we prioritize, what strategies have the best chances of solving them, and how can we best use our careers, donations, resources, and lifestyles to contribute to these?
Who we are
As part of the broader Effective Altruism movement, EA at UCLA is dedicated to building a community of people who seek to continuously investigate strategies to improve the world and apply them in our lives.
We run fellowships during which we discover and discuss new ideas, and we host events including talks, weekly dinners, and conferences.
Past Events
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{PAST} Avatar: the Last Airbender Watch Party
Date: Thursday, February 22nd
Time: 7:30 - 9:30 PM
Place: Near the Hill, by RSVP
Join us to watch the first two episodes of the new Avatar live-action series. Registered attendees will also be provided with snacks, including popcorn, Impossible nuggets, licorice, and soda.
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{PAST} Picnic and Frisbee
Date: Saturday, February 10 (Week 5)
Time: 11 AM – 1 PM
Place: Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden
Join us to hang out and talk about effective altruism with complementary catering from Falafel Inc. and frisbee.
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{PAST} GPI paper Discussion
Date: Thursday, February 22 (Week 7)
Time: 9:30 – 10:30 AM
Place: Kerckhoff Coffeehouse
Join us to discuss David Thorstad’s paper ”Three Mistakes in the Moral Mathematics of Existnetial Risk” criticizing longtermist arguments for existential risk mitigation.
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{PAST} 80K Advising Application Session
Date: Wednesday, February 28 (Week 8)
Time: 6:30 – 8 PM
Place: John Wooden Center, Main Conference Room
Join us to learn about 80K’s career coaching serviced and a detailed walkthrough and coworking session for the application.
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{PAST} Board Game Night
Date: Saturday, March 9 (Week 9)
Time: 7 – 10 PM
Place: By RSVP
Join us for dinner and to play board games.
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{PAST} Picnic and Frisbee
Date: Saturday, March 16 (Week 10)
Time: 11 AM – 1 PM
Place: Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden
Join us to relax and play frisbee before finals. Complementary catering from Falafel Inc. will be provided.
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{PAST} Tofu Tuesday
Date: Tuesday, January 30 (Week 4)
Time: 7 – 9 PM
Place: By RSVP
Join us for a talk by George Stiffman on promoting Chinese tofus to Westerners, including a tofu tasting event with food prepared by George.
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{PAST} Picnic Social
Picnic social at the Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden this Saturday, 4-6pm 🤍
Join us for fantastic catering from Veggie Grill & a game of ultimate frisbee! If you like to attend, please register through the form below.
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{PAST} Alt Protein Tasting Event Featuring Unlimeat
The Alt Protein Project at UCLA will be holding a tasting event featuring plant-based Korean BBQ and pulled pork sandwiches this Saturday, June 3rd from 12 - 2 PM.
