Effective altruism: Difference between revisions
split out critiques section to its own heading (previously it was under philosophy) |
Based on GA review, move philosophy section up top under history and move the subsections about the way the philosophy is applied to Themes, under Practice |
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Prominent [[Social cause|cause]] priorities within effective altruism include global poverty, animal welfare, and risks to the survival of humanity over the long-term future. |
Prominent [[Social cause|cause]] priorities within effective altruism include global poverty, animal welfare, and risks to the survival of humanity over the long-term future. |
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The philosophy of effective altruism applies more broadly to the process of prioritizing the scientific projects, companies, and policy initiatives that can be estimated to save lives or otherwise improve well-being.<ref name="doing-good-better"/>{{rp|179–195}} Philosophical principles of effective altruism emphasize impartiality, cause neutrality, cost-effectiveness, and counterfactual reasoning. One prominent philosophical debate is about how effective altruism relates to institutional or [[structural change]]. |
The philosophy of effective altruism applies more broadly to the process of prioritizing the scientific projects, companies, and policy initiatives that can be estimated to save lives or otherwise improve well-being.<ref name="doing-good-better">{{cite book |last=MacAskill |first=William |title=[[Doing Good Better|Doing Good Better: How Effective Altruism Can Help You Help Others, Do Work that Matters, and Make Smarter Choices about Giving Back]] |date=2016 |publisher=Avery |isbn=9781592409662 |location=New York |oclc=932001639 |author-link=William MacAskill |orig-year=2015}}</ref>{{rp|179–195}} Philosophical principles of effective altruism emphasize impartiality, cause neutrality, cost-effectiveness, and counterfactual reasoning. One prominent philosophical debate is about how effective altruism relates to institutional or [[structural change]]. |
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The movement developed during the decade of the 2000s, and the name {{em|effective altruism}} was coined in 2011. Several books and many articles about the movement have since been published, and the [[Effective Altruism Global]] conference has been held since 2013. |
The movement developed during the decade of the 2000s, and the name {{em|effective altruism}} was coined in 2011. Several books and many articles about the movement have since been published, and the [[Effective Altruism Global]] conference has been held since 2013. |
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* The evidence-based charity community centered around [[GiveWell]]<ref>{{Cite news |last=Strom |first=Stephanie |date=2007-12-20 |title=2 Young Hedge-Fund Veterans Stir Up the World of Philanthropy |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/20/us/20charity.html |issn=0362-4331 |accessdate=2022-06-03}}</ref>, including [[Open Philanthropy]] which originally came out of GiveWell Labs but then became independent<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ventures |first=Good |title=Our Vision, Mission & Initial Approach to Giving |url=https://www.goodventures.org/research-and-ideas/blog/our-vision-mission-and-initial-approach-to-giving |work=Good Ventures |accessdate=2022-06-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Matthews |first=Dylan |date=2015-04-24 |title=You have $8 billion. You want to do as much good as possible. What do you do? |url=https://www.vox.com/2015/4/24/8457895/givewell-open-philanthropy-charity |work=Vox |accessdate=2022-02-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Cari Tuna and Dustin Moskovitz: Young Silicon Valley billionaires pioneer new approach to philanthropy - The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/billionaire-couple-give-plenty-to-charity-but-they-do-quite-a-bit-of-homework/2014/12/26/19fae34c-86d6-11e4-b9b7-b8632ae73d25_story.html |accessdate=2022-02-06}}</ref> |
* The evidence-based charity community centered around [[GiveWell]]<ref>{{Cite news |last=Strom |first=Stephanie |date=2007-12-20 |title=2 Young Hedge-Fund Veterans Stir Up the World of Philanthropy |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/20/us/20charity.html |issn=0362-4331 |accessdate=2022-06-03}}</ref>, including [[Open Philanthropy]] which originally came out of GiveWell Labs but then became independent<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ventures |first=Good |title=Our Vision, Mission & Initial Approach to Giving |url=https://www.goodventures.org/research-and-ideas/blog/our-vision-mission-and-initial-approach-to-giving |work=Good Ventures |accessdate=2022-06-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Matthews |first=Dylan |date=2015-04-24 |title=You have $8 billion. You want to do as much good as possible. What do you do? |url=https://www.vox.com/2015/4/24/8457895/givewell-open-philanthropy-charity |work=Vox |accessdate=2022-02-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Cari Tuna and Dustin Moskovitz: Young Silicon Valley billionaires pioneer new approach to philanthropy - The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/billionaire-couple-give-plenty-to-charity-but-they-do-quite-a-bit-of-homework/2014/12/26/19fae34c-86d6-11e4-b9b7-b8632ae73d25_story.html |accessdate=2022-02-06}}</ref> |
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* The utilitarian internet community, centered around the Felicifia discussion forum<ref>{{Cite web |title=Timeline of Felicifia - Timelines |url=https://timelines.issarice.com/index.php?title=Timeline_of_Felicifia |accessdate=2022-06-03}}</ref> |
* The utilitarian internet community, centered around the Felicifia discussion forum<ref>{{Cite web |title=Timeline of Felicifia - Timelines |url=https://timelines.issarice.com/index.php?title=Timeline_of_Felicifia |accessdate=2022-06-03}}</ref> |
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* The community around pledging and career selection for effective giving, centered around the [[Giving What We Can]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History |url=https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/about-us/history/ |accessdate=2022-06-03}}</ref> and [[80,000 hours|80,000 Hours]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=About us: what do we do, and how can we help? |url=https://80000hours.org/about/ |work=80,000 Hours |accessdate=2022-06-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bilberrry |title=Getting inspired by cost-effective giving |url=https://www.thelifeyoucansave.org/supporters-stories/getting-inspired-by-cost-effective-giving/ |work=The Life You Can Save |accessdate=2022-06-03}}</ref> organizations<ref name="EA-history">{{cite web |last=MacAskill |first=William |author-link=William MacAskill |date=March 10, 2014 |title=The history of the term 'effective altruism' |url=https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/9a7xMXoSiQs3EYPA2/the-history-of-the-term-effective-altruism |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200220215628/https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/9a7xMXoSiQs3EYPA2/the-history-of-the-term-effective-altruism |archive-date=February 20, 2020 |access-date=February 2, 2020 |website=forum.effectivealtruism.org}}</ref><ref name="Singer2015" />{{rp|16–19}} |
* The community around pledging and career selection for effective giving, centered around the [[Giving What We Can]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History |url=https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/about-us/history/ |accessdate=2022-06-03}}</ref> and [[80,000 hours|80,000 Hours]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=About us: what do we do, and how can we help? |url=https://80000hours.org/about/ |work=80,000 Hours |accessdate=2022-06-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bilberrry |title=Getting inspired by cost-effective giving |url=https://www.thelifeyoucansave.org/supporters-stories/getting-inspired-by-cost-effective-giving/ |work=The Life You Can Save |accessdate=2022-06-03}}</ref> organizations<ref name="EA-history">{{cite web |last=MacAskill |first=William |author-link=William MacAskill |date=March 10, 2014 |title=The history of the term 'effective altruism' |url=https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/9a7xMXoSiQs3EYPA2/the-history-of-the-term-effective-altruism |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200220215628/https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/9a7xMXoSiQs3EYPA2/the-history-of-the-term-effective-altruism |archive-date=February 20, 2020 |access-date=February 2, 2020 |website=forum.effectivealtruism.org}}</ref><ref name="Singer2015">{{cite book |last=Singer |first=Peter |title=[[The Most Good You Can Do|The Most Good You Can Do: How Effective Altruism Is Changing Ideas About Living Ethically]] |date=2015 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=9780300180275 |series=Castle lectures in ethics, politics, and economics |location=New Haven |oclc=890614537 |author-link=Peter Singer}}</ref>{{rp|16–19}} |
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In 2011, Giving What We Can and 80,000 Hours decided to incorporate into an [[umbrella organization]] and held a vote for their new name. The "Centre for Effective Altruism" was selected.<ref name="ft">{{cite news |last1=Ram |first1=Aliya |date=December 4, 2015 |title=The power and efficacy of effective altruism |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/1954323c-8eb3-11e5-8be4-3506bf20cc2b |url-status=live |access-date=February 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180806145437/https://www.ft.com/content/1954323c-8eb3-11e5-8be4-3506bf20cc2b |archive-date=August 6, 2018}}</ref><ref name="EA-history" /><ref name="Singer2015" />{{rp|18}} The "Effective Altruists" [[Facebook group]] was set up in November 2012.<ref name="EA-history" /> As the movement formed, it attracted individuals who were not part of a specific community, but who had been following Peter Singer's work on [[applied ethics]], particularly “[[Famine, Affluence, and Morality]]” (1972), [[Animal Liberation (book) |Animal Liberation]] (1975), and [[The Life You Can Save]] (2009). Peter Singer himself used the term in 2013, in a [[TED talk]] titled "The Why and How of Effective Altruism".<ref name="EA-history" /> |
In 2011, Giving What We Can and 80,000 Hours decided to incorporate into an [[umbrella organization]] and held a vote for their new name. The "Centre for Effective Altruism" was selected.<ref name="ft">{{cite news |last1=Ram |first1=Aliya |date=December 4, 2015 |title=The power and efficacy of effective altruism |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/1954323c-8eb3-11e5-8be4-3506bf20cc2b |url-status=live |access-date=February 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180806145437/https://www.ft.com/content/1954323c-8eb3-11e5-8be4-3506bf20cc2b |archive-date=August 6, 2018}}</ref><ref name="EA-history" /><ref name="Singer2015" />{{rp|18}} The "Effective Altruists" [[Facebook group]] was set up in November 2012.<ref name="EA-history" /> As the movement formed, it attracted individuals who were not part of a specific community, but who had been following Peter Singer's work on [[applied ethics]], particularly “[[Famine, Affluence, and Morality]]” (1972), [[Animal Liberation (book) |Animal Liberation]] (1975), and [[The Life You Can Save]] (2009). Peter Singer himself used the term in 2013, in a [[TED talk]] titled "The Why and How of Effective Altruism".<ref name="EA-history" /> |
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The [[Effective Altruism Global]] conference has been held since 2013.<ref name="huffpost-ea-global">{{cite web |last1=Pitney |first1=Nico |date=July 16, 2015 |title=Elon Musk To Address 'Nerd Altruists' At Google HQ |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/elon-musk-google-effective-altruism_us_55a56626e4b04740a3de3130 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170310120718/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/elon-musk-google-effective-altruism_us_55a56626e4b04740a3de3130 |archive-date=March 10, 2017 |access-date=March 11, 2017 |website=Huffington Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=November 13, 2013 |title=Jaan Tallinn's Keynote - Effective Altruism Summit 2013 |url=http://www.exponentialtimes.net/videos/jaan-tallinns-keynote-effective-altruism-summit-2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809124540/http://www.exponentialtimes.net/videos/jaan-tallinns-keynote-effective-altruism-summit-2013 |archive-date=August 9, 2016 |access-date=April 11, 2015 |work=Exponential Times}}</ref> In 2015, Singer published ''[[The Most Good You Can Do]]''.<ref name="kristof">{{cite news |last=Kristof |first=Nicholas |author-link=Nicholas Kristof |date=April 4, 2015 |title=The Trader Who Donates Half His Pay |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/05/opinion/sunday/nicholas-kristof-the-trader-who-donates-half-his-pay.html |url-status=live |access-date=April 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009152730/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/05/opinion/sunday/nicholas-kristof-the-trader-who-donates-half-his-pay.html |archive-date=October 9, 2019}}</ref> In the same year MacAskill published ''[[Doing Good Better|Doing Good Better: How Effective Altruism Can Help You Make a Difference]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Shariatmadari |first=David |date=August 20, 2015 |title=Doing Good Better by William MacAskill review – if you read this book, you'll change the charities you donate to |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/20/doing-good-better-william-macaskill-review |url-status=live |access-date=May 21, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170622131310/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/20/doing-good-better-william-macaskill-review |archive-date=June 22, 2017 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Cowen |first=Tyler |date=August 14, 2015 |title=Effective Altruism: Where Charity and Rationality Meet |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/upshot/effective-altruism-where-charity-and-rationality-meet.html |url-status=live |access-date=May 21, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221213814/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/upshot/effective-altruism-where-charity-and-rationality-meet.html |archive-date=December 21, 2016 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="Thompson2015" /> In 2018, American news website ''[[Vox (website)|Vox]]'' launched its ''Future Perfect'' section, led by journalist [[Dylan Matthews]], which publishes articles and podcasts on "Finding the best ways to do good"<ref>{{cite web |last=Schmidt |first=Christine |date=October 15, 2018 |title=Will Vox's new section on effective altruism... well, do any good? |url=https://www.niemanlab.org/2018/10/will-voxs-new-section-on-effective-altruism-well-do-any-good/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201145307/https://www.niemanlab.org/2018/10/will-voxs-new-section-on-effective-altruism-well-do-any-good/ |archive-date=February 1, 2020 |access-date=February 1, 2020 |website=[[Nieman Journalism Lab]]}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite web |last=Matthews |first=Dylan |date=October 15, 2018 |title=Future Perfect, explained |url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/10/15/17924288/future-perfect-explained |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191225210922/https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/10/15/17924288/future-perfect-explained |archive-date=December 25, 2019 |access-date=December 8, 2018 |website=Vox}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Future Perfect |url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201041403/https://www.vox.com/future-perfect |archive-date=February 1, 2020 |access-date=February 1, 2020 |website=www.vox.com}}</ref>, including topics such as effective philanthropy,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Matthews |first=Dylan |date=December 17, 2019 |title=These are the charities where your money will do the most good |url=https://www.vox.com/2015/12/1/9826838/best-charities-donate-2018-giving-tuesday |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829075642/https://www.vox.com/2015/12/1/9826838/best-charities-donate-2018-giving-tuesday |archive-date=August 29, 2019 |access-date=February 1, 2020 |website=Vox}}</ref> high-impact career choice,<ref name="career-choice-vox">{{Cite web |last=Matthews |first=Dylan |date=November 28, 2018 |title=How to pick a career that counts |url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/11/28/18114601/future-perfect-podcast-career-choice |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224101233/https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/11/28/18114601/future-perfect-podcast-career-choice |archive-date=December 24, 2019 |access-date=December 8, 2018 |website=Vox}}</ref> poverty reduction through [[women's empowerment]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Illing |first=Sean |date=March 8, 2019 |title=Want less poverty in the world? Empower women. |url=https://www.vox.com/2018/11/5/18037688/gender-equality-poverty-human-rights |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181209124140/https://www.vox.com/2018/11/5/18037688/gender-equality-poverty-human-rights |archive-date=December 9, 2018 |access-date=February 1, 2020 |website=Vox}}</ref> improving children's learning efficiently through improving [[environmental health]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Yglesias |first=Matthew |date=January 8, 2020 |title=Installing air filters in classrooms has surprisingly large educational benefits: $1,000 can raise a class's test scores by as much as cutting class size by a third |url=https://www.vox.com/2020/1/8/21051869/indoor-air-pollution-student-achievement |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201145308/https://www.vox.com/2020/1/8/21051869/indoor-air-pollution-student-achievement |archive-date=February 1, 2020 |access-date=February 1, 2020 |website=Vox}}</ref> animal welfare improvements,<ref name="animal-welfare-vox">{{Cite web |last=Piper |first=Kelsey |date=November 27, 2018 |title=Where will your donations do the most for animals? |url=https://www.vox.com/2018/11/27/18111908/giving-tuesday-best-animal-charity |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128115806/https://www.vox.com/2018/11/27/18111908/giving-tuesday-best-animal-charity |archive-date=November 28, 2018 |access-date=December 8, 2018 |website=Vox}}</ref> and ways to reduce global catastrophic risks.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Piper |first=Kelsey |date=November 19, 2018 |title=How technological progress is making it likelier than ever that humans will destroy ourselves |work=Vox |url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/11/19/18097663/nick-bostrom-vulnerable-world-global-catastrophic-risks |url-status=live |access-date=December 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181209070423/https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/11/19/18097663/nick-bostrom-vulnerable-world-global-catastrophic-risks |archive-date=December 9, 2018}}</ref> |
The [[Effective Altruism Global]] conference has been held since 2013.<ref name="huffpost-ea-global">{{cite web |last1=Pitney |first1=Nico |date=July 16, 2015 |title=Elon Musk To Address 'Nerd Altruists' At Google HQ |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/elon-musk-google-effective-altruism_us_55a56626e4b04740a3de3130 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170310120718/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/elon-musk-google-effective-altruism_us_55a56626e4b04740a3de3130 |archive-date=March 10, 2017 |access-date=March 11, 2017 |website=Huffington Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=November 13, 2013 |title=Jaan Tallinn's Keynote - Effective Altruism Summit 2013 |url=http://www.exponentialtimes.net/videos/jaan-tallinns-keynote-effective-altruism-summit-2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809124540/http://www.exponentialtimes.net/videos/jaan-tallinns-keynote-effective-altruism-summit-2013 |archive-date=August 9, 2016 |access-date=April 11, 2015 |work=Exponential Times}}</ref> In 2015, Singer published ''[[The Most Good You Can Do]]''.<ref name="kristof">{{cite news |last=Kristof |first=Nicholas |author-link=Nicholas Kristof |date=April 4, 2015 |title=The Trader Who Donates Half His Pay |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/05/opinion/sunday/nicholas-kristof-the-trader-who-donates-half-his-pay.html |url-status=live |access-date=April 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009152730/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/05/opinion/sunday/nicholas-kristof-the-trader-who-donates-half-his-pay.html |archive-date=October 9, 2019}}</ref> In the same year MacAskill published ''[[Doing Good Better|Doing Good Better: How Effective Altruism Can Help You Make a Difference]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Shariatmadari |first=David |date=August 20, 2015 |title=Doing Good Better by William MacAskill review – if you read this book, you'll change the charities you donate to |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/20/doing-good-better-william-macaskill-review |url-status=live |access-date=May 21, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170622131310/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/20/doing-good-better-william-macaskill-review |archive-date=June 22, 2017 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Cowen |first=Tyler |date=August 14, 2015 |title=Effective Altruism: Where Charity and Rationality Meet |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/upshot/effective-altruism-where-charity-and-rationality-meet.html |url-status=live |access-date=May 21, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221213814/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/upshot/effective-altruism-where-charity-and-rationality-meet.html |archive-date=December 21, 2016 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="Thompson2015">{{cite news |last1=Thompson |first1=Derek |date=June 15, 2015 |title=The Greatest Good |work=The Atlantic |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/06/what-is-the-greatest-good/395768/ |url-status=live |access-date=March 6, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190820061858/https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/06/what-is-the-greatest-good/395768/ |archive-date=August 20, 2019}}</ref> In 2018, American news website ''[[Vox (website)|Vox]]'' launched its ''Future Perfect'' section, led by journalist [[Dylan Matthews]], which publishes articles and podcasts on "Finding the best ways to do good"<ref>{{cite web |last=Schmidt |first=Christine |date=October 15, 2018 |title=Will Vox's new section on effective altruism... well, do any good? |url=https://www.niemanlab.org/2018/10/will-voxs-new-section-on-effective-altruism-well-do-any-good/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201145307/https://www.niemanlab.org/2018/10/will-voxs-new-section-on-effective-altruism-well-do-any-good/ |archive-date=February 1, 2020 |access-date=February 1, 2020 |website=[[Nieman Journalism Lab]]}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite web |last=Matthews |first=Dylan |date=October 15, 2018 |title=Future Perfect, explained |url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/10/15/17924288/future-perfect-explained |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191225210922/https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/10/15/17924288/future-perfect-explained |archive-date=December 25, 2019 |access-date=December 8, 2018 |website=Vox}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Future Perfect |url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201041403/https://www.vox.com/future-perfect |archive-date=February 1, 2020 |access-date=February 1, 2020 |website=www.vox.com}}</ref>, including topics such as effective philanthropy,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Matthews |first=Dylan |date=December 17, 2019 |title=These are the charities where your money will do the most good |url=https://www.vox.com/2015/12/1/9826838/best-charities-donate-2018-giving-tuesday |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829075642/https://www.vox.com/2015/12/1/9826838/best-charities-donate-2018-giving-tuesday |archive-date=August 29, 2019 |access-date=February 1, 2020 |website=Vox}}</ref> high-impact career choice,<ref name="career-choice-vox">{{Cite web |last=Matthews |first=Dylan |date=November 28, 2018 |title=How to pick a career that counts |url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/11/28/18114601/future-perfect-podcast-career-choice |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224101233/https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/11/28/18114601/future-perfect-podcast-career-choice |archive-date=December 24, 2019 |access-date=December 8, 2018 |website=Vox}}</ref> poverty reduction through [[women's empowerment]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Illing |first=Sean |date=March 8, 2019 |title=Want less poverty in the world? Empower women. |url=https://www.vox.com/2018/11/5/18037688/gender-equality-poverty-human-rights |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181209124140/https://www.vox.com/2018/11/5/18037688/gender-equality-poverty-human-rights |archive-date=December 9, 2018 |access-date=February 1, 2020 |website=Vox}}</ref> improving children's learning efficiently through improving [[environmental health]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Yglesias |first=Matthew |date=January 8, 2020 |title=Installing air filters in classrooms has surprisingly large educational benefits: $1,000 can raise a class's test scores by as much as cutting class size by a third |url=https://www.vox.com/2020/1/8/21051869/indoor-air-pollution-student-achievement |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201145308/https://www.vox.com/2020/1/8/21051869/indoor-air-pollution-student-achievement |archive-date=February 1, 2020 |access-date=February 1, 2020 |website=Vox}}</ref> animal welfare improvements,<ref name="animal-welfare-vox">{{Cite web |last=Piper |first=Kelsey |date=November 27, 2018 |title=Where will your donations do the most for animals? |url=https://www.vox.com/2018/11/27/18111908/giving-tuesday-best-animal-charity |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128115806/https://www.vox.com/2018/11/27/18111908/giving-tuesday-best-animal-charity |archive-date=November 28, 2018 |access-date=December 8, 2018 |website=Vox}}</ref> and ways to reduce global catastrophic risks.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Piper |first=Kelsey |date=November 19, 2018 |title=How technological progress is making it likelier than ever that humans will destroy ourselves |work=Vox |url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/11/19/18097663/nick-bostrom-vulnerable-world-global-catastrophic-risks |url-status=live |access-date=December 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181209070423/https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/11/19/18097663/nick-bostrom-vulnerable-world-global-catastrophic-risks |archive-date=December 9, 2018}}</ref> |
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⚫ | Effective altruists have pondered philosophical questions about the most effective ways to benefit others.<ref name="EA-IEE">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Effective altruism |encyclopedia=International Encyclopedia of Ethics |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |location=Hoboken, NJ |url=https://philarchive.org/archive/PUMEA |date=June 2020 |editor-last=LaFollette |editor-first=Hugh |pages=1–9 |doi=10.1002/9781444367072.wbiee883 |isbn=9781444367072 |oclc=829259960 |last2=MacAskill |first2=William |last1=Pummer |first1=Theron |author-link2=William MacAskill |s2cid=241220220}}</ref><ref name="MacAskill-definition">{{cite book |last=MacAskill |first=William |title=Effective Altruism: Philosophical Issues |date=2019a |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=9780198841364 |editor1-last=Greaves |editor1-first=Hilary |editor1-link=Hilary Greaves |series=Engaging philosophy |location=Oxford; New York |pages=10–28 |chapter=The definition of effective altruism |doi=10.1093/oso/9780198841364.003.0001 |oclc=1101772304 |author-link=William MacAskill |editor2-last=Pummer |editor2-first=Theron}}</ref> Such philosophical questions shift the starting point of reasoning from "what to do" to why and how.<ref name="practical-ethics">{{cite web |last=Crouch |first=Will |date=May 30, 2013 |title=What is effective altruism? |url=http://blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/2013/05/what-is-effective-altruism/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151003212110/http://blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/2013/05/what-is-effective-altruism/ |archive-date=October 3, 2015 |access-date=February 4, 2020 |website=blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk |publisher=Practical Ethics blog, Philosophy Faculty, [[University of Oxford]]}}</ref> Effective altruists have yet to reach consensus on the answers to all such questions. Some effective altruists believe that they should do the most good they possibly can, termed ''maximizing altruism''<ref name="EA-IEE" /><ref>{{harvtxt|Singer|2015}} expressed a clearly normative view: "Effective altruism is based on a very simple idea: we should do the most good we can. Obeying the usual rules about not stealing, cheating, hurting, and killing is not enough, or at least not enough for those of us who have the great good fortune to live in material comfort, who can feed, house, and clothe ourselves and our families and still have money or time to spare. Living a minimally acceptable ethical life involves using a substantial part of our spare resources to make the world a better place. Living a fully ethical life involves doing the most good we can." (p. vii)</ref> while other effective altruists try do the most good they can within a defined budget.<ref name="MacAskill-definition" />{{rp|15}} |
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⚫ | Effective altruism can be compatible with a wide variety of views about [[morality]] and [[meta-ethics]],<ref name="MacAskill-intro" /><ref name="EA-IEE" /> such as the normative ethical theories of [[consequentialism]], [[egalitarianism]], [[prioritarianism]], [[utilitarianism]], [[contractualism]], [[deontological ethics]], [[virtue ethics]], as well as traditional religious teachings on altruism such as in [[Christianity]].<ref name="MacAskill-intro" /><ref name="rational-do-gooder" /><ref name="EA-IEE" /> Effective altruism can also be in some tension with religion insofar as religion emphasizes spending resources on worship and evangelism instead of causes that do more good.<ref name="MacAskill-intro" />{{rp|4}} |
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⚫ | [[Altruism]] can be motivated by different reasons. Some reasons are impartial, and others are sentimental.<ref>{{cite SEP|url-id=altruism|title=Altruism|edition=Spring 2018|last=Kraut|first=Richard|date=August 25, 2016|access-date=February 4, 2020}} See especially the section [https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2018/entries/altruism/#WhyCareAbouOthe "4. Why care about others?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200126193855/https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2018/entries/altruism/#WhyCareAbouOthe|date=2020-01-26}}: "Radically different ways of answering these questions [about why to benefit others] can be found in moral philosophy."</ref> Effective altruism emphasizes impartial reasoning in that everyone's [[well-being]] counts equally.<ref name="Singer2015" />{{rp|85–95}}<ref name="EA-IEE" /><ref name="MacAskill-definition" />{{rp|17–19}} Philosopher [[Peter Singer]], in his 1972 essay "[[Famine, Affluence, and Morality]]",<ref>On the influence of Singer's essay "[[Famine, Affluence, and Morality]]" see, for example: {{harvnb|Snow|2015}}, {{harvnb|Singer|2015|pp=13–20}}, and {{cite magazine |last=Lichtenberg |first=Judith |date=November 30, 2015 |title=Peter Singer's extremely altruistic heirs: Forty years after it was written, 'Famine, Affluence, and Morality' has spawned a radical new movement |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/124690/peter-singers-extremely-altruistic-heirs |magazine=[[The New Republic]]}} Singer's arguments for impartiality were later repeated in other books by him (such as {{harvnb|Singer|2009}}, {{harvnb|Singer|2015}}).</ref> wrote: |
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⚫ | <blockquote>It makes no moral difference whether the person I can help is a neighbor's child ten yards away from me or a Bengali whose name I shall never know, ten thousand miles away. ... The moral point of view requires us to look beyond the interests of our own society.<ref name="Singer1972">{{cite journal |last=Singer |first=Peter |date=Spring 1972 |title=Famine, Affluence, and Morality |journal=[[Philosophy and Public Affairs]] |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=229–243 |jstor=2265052}} The essay was republished in book form in 2016 with a new preface and two extra essays by Singer: {{cite book |last=Singer |first=Peter |title=Famine, Affluence, and Morality |date=2016 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=9780190219208 |location=Oxford; New York |oclc=907446001}}</ref>{{rp|231–232}}</blockquote> |
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⚫ | Many nonprofits emphasize effectiveness and evidence with a single cause in mind, such as education or climate change.<ref>{{cite web |last=Schambra |first=William A. |date=May 22, 2014 |title=Opinion: The coming showdown between philanthrolocalism and effective altruism |url=https://www.philanthropydaily.com/the-coming-showdown-between-philanthrolocalism-and-effective-altruism/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200205205424/https://www.philanthropydaily.com/the-coming-showdown-between-philanthrolocalism-and-effective-altruism/ |archive-date=February 5, 2020 |access-date=February 5, 2020 |website=Philanthropy Daily |quote=Strategic philanthropists like Paul Brest seek only to apply metrics to the selection of groups once a cause has been selected. But, altruist critics note, this foolishly leaves the choice of the cause itself willy-nilly to the all-too-often idiosyncratic, short-sighted, selfish impulses of the donor.}}</ref> Being impartial, effective altruists instead adopt cause neutrality. Cause neutrality means choosing to distribute resources based on what will do the most good, irrespective of identity of the beneficiary, and the way in which they are helped.<ref name="EA-IEE" /> Some effective altruists include people who don't exist yet as possible beneficiaries and try to benefit future people by promoting the long-term well-being of humanity by, for example, reducing [[risks to civilization, humans, and planet Earth]].<ref name="Singer2015" />{{rp|165–178}}<ref name="Todd2017">{{Cite web |last=Todd |first=Benjamin |date=October 24, 2017 |title=Introducing longtermism: How important are future generations? |url=https://80000hours.org/articles/future-generations/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200220093257/https://80000hours.org/articles/future-generations/ |archive-date=February 20, 2020 |access-date=February 8, 2020 |website=80000 Hours |quote=Since the future is big, there could be far more people in the future than in the present generation. This means that if you want to help people in general, your ''key concern'' shouldn't be to help the present generation, but to ensure that the future goes well in the long-term. Previously, we called this the 'long-term value thesis', though it is now most commonly called 'longtermism'. This thesis is often confused with the claim that we shouldn't ''do'' anything to help people in the present generation. But the long-term value thesis is about what most ''matters''—what we should ''do'' about it is a further question. It might turn out that the best way to help those in the future is to improve the lives of people in the present, such as through providing health and education.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Beckstead |first=Nick |title=Effective Altruism: Philosophical Issues |date=2019 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=9780198841364 |editor1-last=Greaves |editor1-first=Hilary |editor1-link=Hilary Greaves |series=Engaging philosophy |location=Oxford; New York |pages=80–98 |chapter=A brief argument for the overwhelming importance of shaping the far future |doi=10.1093/oso/9780198841364.003.0006 |oclc=1101772304 |editor2-last=Pummer |editor2-first=Theron}}</ref> Some effective altruists consider the well-being of [[Animal rights|non-human animals]] and advocate for animal welfare issues such as ending [[factory farming]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Fisher |first=Andrew |date=January 2017 |title=Theory-neutral arguments for 'effective animal advocacy' |url=https://commons.pacificu.edu/eip/vol18/iss1/3 |url-status=live |journal=Essays in Philosophy |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=eP1578:1–14 |doi=10.7710/1526-0569.1578 |issn=1526-0569 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190807105844/https://commons.pacificu.edu/eip/vol18/iss1/3/ |archive-date=2019-08-07 |access-date=2020-02-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Broad |first=Garrett M. |date=December 2018 |title=Effective animal advocacy: effective altruism, the social economy, and the animal protection movement |journal=Agriculture and Human Values |volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=777–789 |doi=10.1007/s10460-018-9873-5 |s2cid=158634567}}</ref><ref name="whyfarmedanimals">{{Cite web |date=November 2016 |title=Why Farmed Animals? |url=https://animalcharityevaluators.org/donation-advice/why-farmed-animals/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190706042217/https://animalcharityevaluators.org/donation-advice/why-farmed-animals/ |archive-date=2019-07-06 |access-date=2018-12-09 |website=Animal Charity Evaluators |language=en-US}}</ref> |
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== Practice == |
== Practice == |
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People practice effective altruism in different ways, such as donating to effective charitable organizations, using their career to make more money for donations or directly contributing their labor, and starting new non-profit or for-profit ventures. For example, [[Michael Kremer]] and [[Rachel Glennerster]] conducted many [[randomized controlled trial]]s in Kenya to find out the best way to improve students' test scores. They tried new textbooks and flip charts, as well as smaller class sizes, but found that the only intervention that raised school attendance was treating intestinal worms in children.<ref name="Thompson2015"/> Based on their findings, they started the Deworm the World Initiative, which is rated by [[GiveWell]] as one of the best charities in the world for [[#Cost-effectiveness|cost-effectiveness]].<ref name="Thompson2015"/> |
People practice effective altruism in different ways, such as donating to effective charitable organizations, using their career to make more money for donations or directly contributing their labor, and starting new non-profit or for-profit ventures. For example, [[Michael Kremer]] and [[Rachel Glennerster]] conducted many [[randomized controlled trial]]s in Kenya to find out the best way to improve students' test scores. They tried new textbooks and flip charts, as well as smaller class sizes, but found that the only intervention that raised school attendance was treating intestinal worms in children.<ref name="Thompson2015" /> Based on their findings, they started the Deworm the World Initiative, which is rated by [[GiveWell]] as one of the best charities in the world for [[#Cost-effectiveness|cost-effectiveness]].<ref name="Thompson2015" /> |
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===Themes=== |
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⚫ | Effective altruist organizations such as [[80,000 Hours]]<ref name="80K-problem-framework">{{cite web |last=Wiblin |first=Robert |date=April 2016 |title=A framework for comparing global problems in terms of expected impact |url=https://80000hours.org/articles/problem-framework/ |access-date=2021-12-05 |website=[[80,000 Hours]]}}</ref> and [[Open Philanthropy (organization)|Open Philanthropy]]<ref name="openphil-cause-selection">{{cite web |date=26 March 2015 |title=Cause Selection |url=https://www.openphilanthropy.org/research/cause-selection |access-date=2021-12-05 |website=[[Open Philanthropy (organization)|Open Philanthropy]]}}</ref> prioritize causes by evaluating each cause for its ''importance'', ''tractability'', and ''neglectedness''. Importance is the amount of value that would be created if a problem were solved, tractability is the fraction of a problem that would be solved if additional resources were devoted to it, and neglectedness is the quantity of resources already committed to a cause. These three criteria help estimate the [[marginal benefit]] of allocating more resources, such as money or people, toward addressing an issue. |
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⚫ | The information required for cause prioritization may involve [[data analysis]], comparing possible outcomes with what would have happened under other conditions ([[#Counterfactual reasoning|counterfactual reasoning]]), and identifying [[uncertainty]].<ref name="EA-IEE" /><ref>{{cite journal |last=MacAskill |first=William |author-link=William MacAskill |date=September 2019b |title=Practical ethics given moral uncertainty |url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:f3da6f54-8017-432a-a294-7d7707e6a74d |url-status=live |journal=[[Utilitas]] |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=231–245 |doi=10.1017/S0953820819000013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215082736/https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:f3da6f54-8017-432a-a294-7d7707e6a74d |archive-date=2021-02-15 |access-date=2020-09-19 |s2cid=150859616}}</ref> The difficulty of these tasks has led to the creation of organizations that specialize in researching the relative prioritization of causes.<ref name="EA-IEE" /><ref name="Problems">{{Cite web |title=Our current view of the world's most pressing problems |url=https://80000hours.org/problem-profiles/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200314122945/https://80000hours.org/problem-profiles/ |archive-date=March 14, 2020 |access-date=March 10, 2020 |website=80,000 Hours |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Karnofsky |first=Holden |author-link=Holden Karnofsky |date=January 26, 2018 |title=Update on cause prioritization at Open Philanthropy |url=https://www.openphilanthropy.org/blog/update-cause-prioritization-open-philanthropy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200223112714/https://www.openphilanthropy.org/blog/update-cause-prioritization-open-philanthropy |archive-date=February 23, 2020 |access-date=March 10, 2020 |website=www.openphilanthropy.org}}</ref> |
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⚫ | Some charities are far more effective than others, as charities may spend different amounts of money to achieve the same goal, and some charities may not achieve the goal at all.<ref>{{cite web |title=Your dollar goes further when you fund the right program |url=http://www.givewell.org/giving101/Funding-the-Right-Program |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190830153507/https://www.givewell.org/giving101/Funding-the-Right-Program |archive-date=2019-08-30 |access-date=2013-03-10 |publisher=GiveWell}}</ref><ref name="dollar-overseas">{{cite web |title=Your Dollar Goes Further Overseas |url=http://www.givewell.org/giving101/Your-dollar-goes-further-overseas |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031115759/https://www.givewell.org/giving101/Your-dollar-goes-further-overseas |archive-date=2019-10-31 |access-date=2013-03-10 |publisher=GiveWell}}</ref> Effective altruists seek to identify charities that are highly [[cost-effectiveness analysis|cost-effective]].<ref name="Thompson2015" /> For example, health interventions are selected based on their impact as measured by lives extended per dollar, [[quality-adjusted life year]]s (QALY) added per dollar, or [[disability-adjusted life year]]s (DALY) reduced per dollar.<ref name="doing-good-better" />{{rp|34}} |
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⚫ | Some effective altruist organizations prefer [[randomized controlled trial]]s as a primary form of evidence,<ref name="Thompson2015" /><ref name="skelton">{{cite journal |last1=Skelton |first1=Anthony |date=2016 |title=The ethical principles of effective altruism |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/SKETEP |url-status=live |journal=Journal of Global Ethics |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=137–146 |doi=10.1080/17449626.2016.1193552 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312072508/https://philpapers.org/rec/SKETEP |archive-date=March 12, 2017 |access-date=March 11, 2017 |s2cid=147936480}}</ref> as they are commonly considered the highest level of evidence in healthcare research.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://nhmrc.gov.au/about-us/publications/guide-development-evaluation-and-implementation-clinical-practice-guidelines |title=A guide to the development, implementation and evaluation of clinical practice guidelines |publisher=National Health and Medical Research Council |year=1998 |isbn=1864960485 |location=Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia |pages=21–25 |access-date=2019-01-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190113075529/https://nhmrc.gov.au/about-us/publications/guide-development-evaluation-and-implementation-clinical-practice-guidelines |archive-date=2019-01-13 |url-status=live}}</ref> Others have argued that requiring this stringent level of evidence unnecessarily narrows the focus to issues where the evidence can be developed,<ref name="Lessons of EA">{{cite web |last1=Rubenstein |first1=Jennifer |date=14 December 2016 |title=The Lessons of Effective Altruism |url=https://www.ethicsandinternationalaffairs.org/2016/the-lessons-of-effective-altruism/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180827075236/https://www.ethicsandinternationalaffairs.org/2016/the-lessons-of-effective-altruism/ |archive-date=27 August 2018 |access-date=26 August 2018 |website=Ethics & International Affairs}}</ref> and that historically many effective interventions have proceeded without this level of evidence.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Karnofsky |first=Holden |author-link=Holden Karnofsky |date=April 4, 2016 |title=Hits-based giving |url=https://www.openphilanthropy.org/blog/hits-based-giving |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190716140958/https://www.openphilanthropy.org/blog/hits-based-giving |archive-date=July 16, 2019 |access-date=March 10, 2020 |website=www.openphilanthropy.org}}</ref> Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry and others have warned about the "[[McNamara fallacy|measurement problem]]":<ref name="gobry" /><ref name="Lessons of EA" /> Issues such as medical research or government reform are worked on "one grinding step at a time", and results are hard to measure with controlled experiments. Such interventions risk being undervalued by the effective altruism movement.<ref name="gobry" /> |
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⚫ | Effective altruist organizations consider the expected impact of a funding increase rather than evaluating the average value of all donations to the charity.<ref name="givewell-interview-huffpo">{{cite web |last1=Zhang |first1=Linch |date=June 21, 2016 |title=How Can You do the Most Good with Your Charitable Giving? This Expert's Answers Might Surprise You |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/linch-zhang/how-can-you-do-the-most-g_b_10597442.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170406162817/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linch-zhang/how-can-you-do-the-most-g_b_10597442.html |archive-date=April 6, 2017 |access-date=March 18, 2017 |website=Huffington Post}}</ref><ref name="SSIR-holden">{{cite web |last1=Karnofsky |first1=Holden |title=We Should Expect Good Giving To Be Hard (SSIR) |url=https://ssir.org/articles/entry/we_should_expect_good_giving_to_be_hard |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170318174729/https://ssir.org/articles/entry/we_should_expect_good_giving_to_be_hard |archive-date=March 18, 2017 |access-date=March 18, 2017 |website=Stanford Social Innovation Review |publisher=Stanford University |language=en-us}}</ref> This avoids donations to organizations that lack {{em|room for more funding}} because they face bottlenecks other than lack of money.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Room for More Funding {{!}} GiveWell |url=https://www.givewell.org/how-we-work/criteria/room-for-more-funding |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190812093110/https://www.givewell.org/how-we-work/criteria/room-for-more-funding |archive-date=2019-08-12 |access-date=2019-01-12 |website=www.givewell.org}}</ref> For example, a medical charity might not be able to hire enough doctors or nurses to distribute more medical supplies, or it might already be serving all of the potential patients in its market. |
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⚫ | [[Counterfactual conditional|Counterfactual]] reasoning involves considering the possible outcomes of alternative choices. It has been employed by effective altruists in a number of contexts, including career choice. Many people assume that the best way to help people is through direct methods, such as working for a charity or providing social services.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rosato |first1=Donna |last2=Wong |first2=Grace |date=November 2011 |title=Best jobs for saving the world |work=CNN |url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/best-jobs/2011/jobs-helping-others/1.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130303191753/http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/best-jobs/2011/jobs-helping-others/1.html |archive-date=March 3, 2013}}</ref> However, since there is a high supply of candidates for such positions, it makes sense to compare the amount of good one candidate does to how much good the next-best candidate would do. According to this reasoning, the marginal impact of a career is likely to be smaller than the gross impact.<ref name="todd-career-paper">{{cite journal |last1=Todd |first1=Benjamin |title=Which Ethical Careers Make a Difference?: The Replaceability Issue in the Ethics of Career Choice |url=https://www.academia.edu/1807196 |url-status=live |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215082734/https://www.academia.edu/1807196/Which_Ethical_Careers_Make_a_Difference_The_Replaceability_Issue_in_the_Ethics_of_Career_Choice |archive-date=February 15, 2021 |access-date=March 11, 2017 |website=University of Oxford}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-07-27 |title='Replaceability' isn't as important as you might think (or we've suggested) |url=https://80000hours.org/2015/07/replaceability-isnt-as-important-as-you-might-think-or-weve-suggested/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190627200128/https://80000hours.org/2015/07/replaceability-isnt-as-important-as-you-might-think-or-weve-suggested/ |archive-date=2019-06-27 |access-date=2019-01-12 |website=80,000 Hours |language=en-US}}</ref> |
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===Donation=== |
===Donation=== |
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[[File:Ravi Varma-Lady Giving Alms at the Temple.jpg|thumb|right|An aristocratic woman giving alms]] |
[[File:Ravi Varma-Lady Giving Alms at the Temple.jpg|thumb|right|An aristocratic woman giving alms]] |
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Many effective altruists engage in significant [[charitable donation]]. Some believe it is a moral duty to alleviate [[suffering]] through donations if other possible uses of those funds do not offer comparable benefits to oneself,<ref name=Singer1972 /> and some lead a frugal lifestyle in order to give more.<ref name="kaufman-wise">{{cite news|last1=Burton|first1=Paul|title=Family Gives Away Half Their Income To Help Others|work=[[WBZ-TV]]|url=https://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/10/13/family-gives-away-half-their-income-to-help-others/|access-date=March 11, 2017|date=October 13, 2015|archive-date=September 30, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170930185608/https://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/10/13/family-gives-away-half-their-income-to-help-others/|url-status=live}}</ref> |
Many effective altruists engage in significant [[charitable donation]]. Some believe it is a moral duty to alleviate [[suffering]] through donations if other possible uses of those funds do not offer comparable benefits to oneself,<ref name="Singer1972" /> and some lead a frugal lifestyle in order to give more.<ref name="kaufman-wise">{{cite news|last1=Burton|first1=Paul|title=Family Gives Away Half Their Income To Help Others|work=[[WBZ-TV]]|url=https://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/10/13/family-gives-away-half-their-income-to-help-others/|access-date=March 11, 2017|date=October 13, 2015|archive-date=September 30, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170930185608/https://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/10/13/family-gives-away-half-their-income-to-help-others/|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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[[Giving What We Can]] (GWWC) is an organization whose members have pledged to donate at least 10% of their future income to the causes that they believe are the most effective. GWWC was founded in 2009 by [[Toby Ord]], a moral philosopher, who lives on £18,000 ($27,000) per year and donates the balance of his income.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11950843|title=Toby Ord: Why I'm giving £1m to charity|last=Geoghegan|first=Tom|date=December 13, 2010|access-date=March 2, 2013|newspaper=BBC News|archive-date=May 13, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513221027/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11950843|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2020, Ord said that people had donated over $100 million to date through the GWWC pledge.<ref>{{cite web |last=Matthews |first=Dylan |date=30 November 2020 |title=Toby Ord explains his pledge to give 10% of his pay to charity |url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/21728925/charity-10-percent-tithe-giving-what-we-can-toby-ord |website=[[Vox (website)|Vox]] |access-date=2021-12-06}}</ref> |
[[Giving What We Can]] (GWWC) is an organization whose members have pledged to donate at least 10% of their future income to the causes that they believe are the most effective. GWWC was founded in 2009 by [[Toby Ord]], a moral philosopher, who lives on £18,000 ($27,000) per year and donates the balance of his income.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11950843|title=Toby Ord: Why I'm giving £1m to charity|last=Geoghegan|first=Tom|date=December 13, 2010|access-date=March 2, 2013|newspaper=BBC News|archive-date=May 13, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513221027/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11950843|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2020, Ord said that people had donated over $100 million to date through the GWWC pledge.<ref>{{cite web |last=Matthews |first=Dylan |date=30 November 2020 |title=Toby Ord explains his pledge to give 10% of his pay to charity |url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/21728925/charity-10-percent-tithe-giving-what-we-can-toby-ord |website=[[Vox (website)|Vox]] |access-date=2021-12-06}}</ref> |
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[[Founders Pledge]] is a similar initiative, founded out of the nonprofit Founders Forum for Good, whereby entrepreneurs make a legally binding commitment to donate a percentage of their personal proceeds to charity in the event that they sell their business.<ref name="founders-pledge-80k-interview">{{cite web|last=MacAskill|first=William|author-link=William MacAskill|title=One of the most exciting new effective altruist organisations: An interview with David Goldberg of the Founders Pledge|url=https://80000hours.org/2015/11/one-of-the-most-exciting-new-effective-altruist-organisations-an-interview-with-david-goldberg-of-the-founders-pledge/|website=80,000 Hours|access-date=March 11, 2017|date=November 26, 2015|archive-date=September 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921045923/https://80000hours.org/2015/11/one-of-the-most-exciting-new-effective-altruist-organisations-an-interview-with-david-goldberg-of-the-founders-pledge/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=UK Tech Founders Take The Founders Pledge To 2%, Committing $28m+ To Good Causes|url=https://social.techcrunch.com/2015/06/09/uk-tech-founders-take-the-founders-pledge-to-2-commiting-28m-to-good-causes/|access-date=2022-02-21|website=TechCrunch|language=en-US}}</ref> As of February 2022, roughly 1,700 entrepreneurs had pledged over $7 billion and over $500 million had been donated.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Home|url=https://founderspledge.com/|access-date=2022-02-21|website=Founders Pledge}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Works|first=In The|title=The Founder's Guide to Impactful Philanthropy|url=https://intheworks.helpscout.com/founders-guide-to-philanthropy/|access-date=2022-02-21|website=intheworks.helpscout.com|language=en}}</ref> |
[[Founders Pledge]] is a similar initiative, founded out of the nonprofit Founders Forum for Good, whereby entrepreneurs make a legally binding commitment to donate a percentage of their personal proceeds to charity in the event that they sell their business.<ref name="founders-pledge-80k-interview">{{cite web|last=MacAskill|first=William|author-link=William MacAskill|title=One of the most exciting new effective altruist organisations: An interview with David Goldberg of the Founders Pledge|url=https://80000hours.org/2015/11/one-of-the-most-exciting-new-effective-altruist-organisations-an-interview-with-david-goldberg-of-the-founders-pledge/|website=80,000 Hours|access-date=March 11, 2017|date=November 26, 2015|archive-date=September 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921045923/https://80000hours.org/2015/11/one-of-the-most-exciting-new-effective-altruist-organisations-an-interview-with-david-goldberg-of-the-founders-pledge/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=UK Tech Founders Take The Founders Pledge To 2%, Committing $28m+ To Good Causes|url=https://social.techcrunch.com/2015/06/09/uk-tech-founders-take-the-founders-pledge-to-2-commiting-28m-to-good-causes/|access-date=2022-02-21|website=TechCrunch|language=en-US}}</ref> As of February 2022, roughly 1,700 entrepreneurs had pledged over $7 billion and over $500 million had been donated.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Home|url=https://founderspledge.com/|access-date=2022-02-21|website=Founders Pledge}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Works|first=In The|title=The Founder's Guide to Impactful Philanthropy|url=https://intheworks.helpscout.com/founders-guide-to-philanthropy/|access-date=2022-02-21|website=intheworks.helpscout.com|language=en}}</ref> |
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An estimated $416 million was donated to effective charities identified by the movement in 2019,<ref>{{cite web|last=Todd|first=Benjamin|date=2020-08-09|title=How are resources in effective altruism allocated across issues?|website=[[80,000 Hours]]|access-date=2021-12-15|url=https://80000hours.org/2021/08/effective-altruism-allocation-resources-cause-areas/}}</ref> representing a 37% annual growth rate since 2015.<ref name="Todd"/> Two of the largest donors in the effective altruist community, [[Cari Tuna]] and [[Dustin Moskovitz]], who had become wealthy through co-founding Facebook, hope to donate most of their net worth of over $11 billion for effective altruism causes through the private foundation [[Good Ventures]].<ref name=vox/> Other prominent philanthropists influenced by effective altruism include [[Bill Gates|Bill]] and [[Melinda French Gates|Melinda Gates]],<ref name=bill-gates-warren-buffet>{{cite web |last=Anderson |first=David |date=3 December 2019 |title=On giving Tuesday, see how Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are changing the world like no other humans in history |website=[[Business Insider]] |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-warren-buffett-billionaires-donate-money-2017-10 |access-date=2021-12-06}}</ref> [[Warren Buffett]],<ref name="bill-gates-warren-buffet"/> [[Sam Bankman-Fried]],<ref name="Zillman">{{cite magazine |last=Zillman |first=Claire |date=29 July 2021 |title=Sam Bankman-Fried and the conscience of a crypto billionaire |magazine=[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]] |url=https://fortune.com/2021/07/29/sam-bankman-fried-crypto-billionaire-ftx/ |access-date=2021-12-06}}</ref> as well as professional poker players [[Dan Smith (poker player)|Dan Smith]]<ref name=rational-do-gooder>{{cite magazine |last=Pincus-Roth |first=Zachary |author-link=Zachary Pincus-Roth |date=23 September 2020 |title=The Rise of the Rational Do-Gooders |magazine=[[The Washington Post Magazine]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2020/09/23/effective-altruism-charity/ |access-date=2021-12-06}}</ref> and [[Liv Boeree]].<ref name="rational-do-gooder"/> One researcher estimated in 2021 that roughly $46 billion has been committed to effective altruism.<ref name="Todd">{{cite web|last=Todd|first=Benjamin|date=2021-07-28|title=Is effective altruism growing? An update on the stock of funding vs. people |website=[[80,000 Hours]]|access-date=2021-12-15|url=https://80000hours.org/2021/07/effective-altruism-growing/}}</ref> |
An estimated $416 million was donated to effective charities identified by the movement in 2019,<ref>{{cite web|last=Todd|first=Benjamin|date=2020-08-09|title=How are resources in effective altruism allocated across issues?|website=[[80,000 Hours]]|access-date=2021-12-15|url=https://80000hours.org/2021/08/effective-altruism-allocation-resources-cause-areas/}}</ref> representing a 37% annual growth rate since 2015.<ref name="Todd" /> Two of the largest donors in the effective altruist community, [[Cari Tuna]] and [[Dustin Moskovitz]], who had become wealthy through co-founding Facebook, hope to donate most of their net worth of over $11 billion for effective altruism causes through the private foundation [[Good Ventures]].<ref name="vox" /> Other prominent philanthropists influenced by effective altruism include [[Bill Gates|Bill]] and [[Melinda French Gates|Melinda Gates]],<ref name="bill-gates-warren-buffet">{{cite web |last=Anderson |first=David |date=3 December 2019 |title=On giving Tuesday, see how Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are changing the world like no other humans in history |website=[[Business Insider]] |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-warren-buffett-billionaires-donate-money-2017-10 |access-date=2021-12-06}}</ref> [[Warren Buffett]],<ref name="bill-gates-warren-buffet" /> [[Sam Bankman-Fried]],<ref name="Zillman">{{cite magazine |last=Zillman |first=Claire |date=29 July 2021 |title=Sam Bankman-Fried and the conscience of a crypto billionaire |magazine=[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]] |url=https://fortune.com/2021/07/29/sam-bankman-fried-crypto-billionaire-ftx/ |access-date=2021-12-06}}</ref> as well as professional poker players [[Dan Smith (poker player)|Dan Smith]]<ref name="rational-do-gooder">{{cite magazine |last=Pincus-Roth |first=Zachary |author-link=Zachary Pincus-Roth |date=23 September 2020 |title=The Rise of the Rational Do-Gooders |magazine=[[The Washington Post Magazine]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2020/09/23/effective-altruism-charity/ |access-date=2021-12-06}}</ref> and [[Liv Boeree]].<ref name="rational-do-gooder" /> One researcher estimated in 2021 that roughly $46 billion has been committed to effective altruism.<ref name="Todd">{{cite web|last=Todd|first=Benjamin|date=2021-07-28|title=Is effective altruism growing? An update on the stock of funding vs. people |website=[[80,000 Hours]]|access-date=2021-12-15|url=https://80000hours.org/2021/07/effective-altruism-growing/}}</ref> |
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===Career choice=== |
===Career choice=== |
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Effective altruists have argued that one's career is an important determinant of the amount of good one does,<ref name="oliver">{{cite web|last1=Oliver|first1=Huw|title='Effective altruists' are a new type of nice person|url=https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/why-are-young-people-being-so-altruistic-209|website=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]]|date=6 October 2014|access-date=March 11, 2017|language=en-us|archive-date=12 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312090615/https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/why-are-young-people-being-so-altruistic-209|url-status=live}}</ref> both directly (through the services one provides) and indirectly (through one's consumption, investment, and donation decisions).<ref name="macaskill-replaceability-paper" /> |
Effective altruists have argued that one's career is an important determinant of the amount of good one does,<ref name="oliver">{{cite web|last1=Oliver|first1=Huw|title='Effective altruists' are a new type of nice person|url=https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/why-are-young-people-being-so-altruistic-209|website=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]]|date=6 October 2014|access-date=March 11, 2017|language=en-us|archive-date=12 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312090615/https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/why-are-young-people-being-so-altruistic-209|url-status=live}}</ref> both directly (through the services one provides) and indirectly (through one's consumption, investment, and donation decisions).<ref name="macaskill-replaceability-paper" /> |
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[[80,000 Hours]] is an organization that conducts research on which careers have the largest positive social impact and provides career advice based on that research.<ref name="career-choice-vox" /><ref name=yc-techcrunch>{{cite news|url = https://techcrunch.com/2015/08/04/80000-hours/|title = Want To Make An Impact With Your Work? Try Some Advice From 80,000 Hours|date = August 4, 2015|access-date = October 31, 2015|work = [[TechCrunch]]|archive-date = November 9, 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151109222847/http://techcrunch.com/2015/08/04/80000-hours/|url-status = live}}</ref> It considers both direct and indirect kinds of altruistic employment.<ref name="fastcoexist">{{cite web|last1=Alcorn|first1=Stan|title=How To Choose An Ethical Career (With Help From Oxford Philosophers)|url=https://www.fastcoexist.com/1682193/how-to-choose-an-ethical-career-with-help-from-oxford-philosophers|website=Co.Exist|publisher=Fast Company Inc|access-date=March 11, 2017|date=June 4, 2013|archive-date=March 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312071824/https://www.fastcoexist.com/1682193/how-to-choose-an-ethical-career-with-help-from-oxford-philosophers|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://80000hours.org/about/meet-the-team/|title=Meet the team|website=80,000 Hours|language=en-US|access-date=2018-12-09|archive-date=2018-12-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181209175849/https://80000hours.org/about/meet-the-team/|url-status=live}}</ref> |
[[80,000 Hours]] is an organization that conducts research on which careers have the largest positive social impact and provides career advice based on that research.<ref name="career-choice-vox" /><ref name="yc-techcrunch">{{cite news|url = https://techcrunch.com/2015/08/04/80000-hours/|title = Want To Make An Impact With Your Work? Try Some Advice From 80,000 Hours|date = August 4, 2015|access-date = October 31, 2015|work = [[TechCrunch]]|archive-date = November 9, 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151109222847/http://techcrunch.com/2015/08/04/80000-hours/|url-status = live}}</ref> It considers both direct and indirect kinds of altruistic employment.<ref name="fastcoexist">{{cite web|last1=Alcorn|first1=Stan|title=How To Choose An Ethical Career (With Help From Oxford Philosophers)|url=https://www.fastcoexist.com/1682193/how-to-choose-an-ethical-career-with-help-from-oxford-philosophers|website=Co.Exist|publisher=Fast Company Inc|access-date=March 11, 2017|date=June 4, 2013|archive-date=March 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312071824/https://www.fastcoexist.com/1682193/how-to-choose-an-ethical-career-with-help-from-oxford-philosophers|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://80000hours.org/about/meet-the-team/|title=Meet the team|website=80,000 Hours|language=en-US|access-date=2018-12-09|archive-date=2018-12-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181209175849/https://80000hours.org/about/meet-the-team/|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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[[Earning to give]] is a prominent approach to career choice among effective altruists. It involves choosing to work in high-paying careers with the explicit goal of donating large sums of money to charity.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://80000hours.org/articles/earning-to-give/|title=Why and how to earn to give|website=80,000 Hours|language=en-US|first=Benjamin|last=Todd|date=April 2017|access-date=2019-01-12|archive-date=2018-11-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126133029/https://80000hours.org/articles/earning-to-give/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="join-ws-save-world">{{cite news|last1=Matthews|first1=Dylan|title=Join Wall Street. Save the world.|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/05/31/join-wall-street-save-the-world/|access-date=March 11, 2017|newspaper=The Washington Post|archive-date=March 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315131659/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/05/31/join-wall-street-save-the-world/|url-status=live}}</ref> Earning to give has been a subject of debate. For example, high profile individuals and institutions within the movement have disagreed on when it is appropriate to work in morally controversial jobs. [[William MacAskill]] argued in 2014 that sufficient donations might justify an otherwise morally controversial career, since the marginal impact of taking an unethical job is small if someone else would have taken it regardless, while the impact of the donations could be large.<ref name="macaskill-replaceability-paper">{{cite journal|last1=William|first1=MacAskill|title=Replaceability, Career Choice, and Making a Difference|journal=Ethical Theory and Moral Practice|volume=17|issue=2|pages=269–283|date=2014|doi=10.1007/s10677-013-9433-4|s2cid=143054318|url=https://www.academia.edu/1557895|language=en|issn=1386-2820|access-date=2017-03-11|archive-date=2021-02-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215082740/https://www.academia.edu/1557895/Replaceability_Career_Choice_and_Making_a_Difference|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2017, 80,000 Hours recommended that it is better to avoid careers that do significant direct harm, even if it seems like the negative consequences could be outweighed by donations. This is because the harms from such careers may be hidden or otherwise hard to measure, and because they think it is important to account for moral uncertainty—for example, not knowing to what degree one should minimize the negative consequences that one hopes to outweigh by donations.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://80000hours.org/articles/harmful-career/|title=Is it ever okay to take a harmful job in order to do more good? An in-depth analysis.|website=80,000 Hours|language=en-US|access-date=June 27, 2019|first=Benjamin|last=Todd|date=August 2017|archive-date=June 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190627200120/https://80000hours.org/articles/harmful-career/|url-status=live}}</ref> |
[[Earning to give]] is a prominent approach to career choice among effective altruists. It involves choosing to work in high-paying careers with the explicit goal of donating large sums of money to charity.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://80000hours.org/articles/earning-to-give/|title=Why and how to earn to give|website=80,000 Hours|language=en-US|first=Benjamin|last=Todd|date=April 2017|access-date=2019-01-12|archive-date=2018-11-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126133029/https://80000hours.org/articles/earning-to-give/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="join-ws-save-world">{{cite news|last1=Matthews|first1=Dylan|title=Join Wall Street. Save the world.|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/05/31/join-wall-street-save-the-world/|access-date=March 11, 2017|newspaper=The Washington Post|archive-date=March 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315131659/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/05/31/join-wall-street-save-the-world/|url-status=live}}</ref> Earning to give has been a subject of debate. For example, high profile individuals and institutions within the movement have disagreed on when it is appropriate to work in morally controversial jobs. [[William MacAskill]] argued in 2014 that sufficient donations might justify an otherwise morally controversial career, since the marginal impact of taking an unethical job is small if someone else would have taken it regardless, while the impact of the donations could be large.<ref name="macaskill-replaceability-paper">{{cite journal|last1=William|first1=MacAskill|title=Replaceability, Career Choice, and Making a Difference|journal=Ethical Theory and Moral Practice|volume=17|issue=2|pages=269–283|date=2014|doi=10.1007/s10677-013-9433-4|s2cid=143054318|url=https://www.academia.edu/1557895|language=en|issn=1386-2820|access-date=2017-03-11|archive-date=2021-02-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215082740/https://www.academia.edu/1557895/Replaceability_Career_Choice_and_Making_a_Difference|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2017, 80,000 Hours recommended that it is better to avoid careers that do significant direct harm, even if it seems like the negative consequences could be outweighed by donations. This is because the harms from such careers may be hidden or otherwise hard to measure, and because they think it is important to account for moral uncertainty—for example, not knowing to what degree one should minimize the negative consequences that one hopes to outweigh by donations.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://80000hours.org/articles/harmful-career/|title=Is it ever okay to take a harmful job in order to do more good? An in-depth analysis.|website=80,000 Hours|language=en-US|access-date=June 27, 2019|first=Benjamin|last=Todd|date=August 2017|archive-date=June 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190627200120/https://80000hours.org/articles/harmful-career/|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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Earning to give has faced criticism from commentators such as [[David Brooks (journalist)|David Brooks]] and Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry. In 2013, Brooks published an article criticizing the earning to give approach. He wrote that most people who work in finance and other high-paying industries value money for selfish reasons and that working among such people will cause effective altruists to become less altruistic.<ref name="brooks2013">{{cite web|last1=Brooks|first1=David|title=The Way to Produce a Person|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 3, 2013|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/04/opinion/brooks-the-way-to-produce-a-person.html?_r=0|access-date=July 7, 2015|archive-date=January 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105011743/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/04/opinion/brooks-the-way-to-produce-a-person.html?_r=0|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Peter Singer]] responded to these criticisms in his book ''[[The Most Good You Can Do]]'' by giving examples of people who have been earning to give for years without losing their altruism.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://blog.yupnet.org/2016/08/09/earning-to-give-leads-to-happiness/|title='Earning to Give' Leads to Happiness|date=2016-08-09|website=Yale Press Log|access-date=2017-04-04|archive-date=2017-04-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170405170329/http://blog.yupnet.org/2016/08/09/earning-to-give-leads-to-happiness/|url-status=live}}</ref> Separately, Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry argued that the practice was "unsettling", explaining that "the implication seems to be that taking a high-paying job selling fraudulent mortgage-backed securities is more praiseworthy than taking a low-paying job at the local homeless shelter, so long as one buys enough anti-malarial bed nets".<ref name="gobry">{{cite magazine|url = https://theweek.com/articles/542955/effective-altruism-really-change-world|title = Can Effective Altruism really change the world?|last = Gobry|first = Pascal-Emmanuel|date = March 16, 2015|access-date = March 21, 2015|magazine = [[The Week]]|archive-date = March 21, 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150321070005/http://theweek.com/articles/542955/effective-altruism-really-change-world|url-status = live}}</ref> Singer responded to this kind of "ethical objection" by arguing that effective altruists who are not utilitarians may be able to find a high-paying job that is not complicit in causing such harm, but even those who take such a complicit job have at least several ways of dealing with the situation, such as by lobbying the organization to change its harmful practices, which may be easier to do from their position inside the organization, or by quitting and [[Whistleblowing|blowing the whistle]] on the organization, which might not have been possible without gaining information while on the job.<ref name="Singer2015"/>{{rp|50–54}} |
Earning to give has faced criticism from commentators such as [[David Brooks (journalist)|David Brooks]] and Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry. In 2013, Brooks published an article criticizing the earning to give approach. He wrote that most people who work in finance and other high-paying industries value money for selfish reasons and that working among such people will cause effective altruists to become less altruistic.<ref name="brooks2013">{{cite web|last1=Brooks|first1=David|title=The Way to Produce a Person|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 3, 2013|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/04/opinion/brooks-the-way-to-produce-a-person.html?_r=0|access-date=July 7, 2015|archive-date=January 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105011743/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/04/opinion/brooks-the-way-to-produce-a-person.html?_r=0|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Peter Singer]] responded to these criticisms in his book ''[[The Most Good You Can Do]]'' by giving examples of people who have been earning to give for years without losing their altruism.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://blog.yupnet.org/2016/08/09/earning-to-give-leads-to-happiness/|title='Earning to Give' Leads to Happiness|date=2016-08-09|website=Yale Press Log|access-date=2017-04-04|archive-date=2017-04-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170405170329/http://blog.yupnet.org/2016/08/09/earning-to-give-leads-to-happiness/|url-status=live}}</ref> Separately, Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry argued that the practice was "unsettling", explaining that "the implication seems to be that taking a high-paying job selling fraudulent mortgage-backed securities is more praiseworthy than taking a low-paying job at the local homeless shelter, so long as one buys enough anti-malarial bed nets".<ref name="gobry">{{cite magazine|url = https://theweek.com/articles/542955/effective-altruism-really-change-world|title = Can Effective Altruism really change the world?|last = Gobry|first = Pascal-Emmanuel|date = March 16, 2015|access-date = March 21, 2015|magazine = [[The Week]]|archive-date = March 21, 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150321070005/http://theweek.com/articles/542955/effective-altruism-really-change-world|url-status = live}}</ref> Singer responded to this kind of "ethical objection" by arguing that effective altruists who are not utilitarians may be able to find a high-paying job that is not complicit in causing such harm, but even those who take such a complicit job have at least several ways of dealing with the situation, such as by lobbying the organization to change its harmful practices, which may be easier to do from their position inside the organization, or by quitting and [[Whistleblowing|blowing the whistle]] on the organization, which might not have been possible without gaining information while on the job.<ref name="Singer2015" />{{rp|50–54}} |
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=== Entrepreneurship === |
=== Entrepreneurship === |
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==Cause priorities== |
==Cause priorities== |
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Effective altruism is in principle open to furthering any cause that allows people to do the most good, while taking into account [[#Cause prioritization|cause neutrality]].<ref name=practical-ethics/> Many people in the effective altruist movement have prioritized global health and development, animal welfare, and mitigating risks that threaten the future of humanity.<ref name=vox>{{cite web |url=https://www.vox.com/2015/4/24/8457895/givewell-open-philanthropy-charity |title=You have $8 billion. You want to do as much good as possible. What do you do? Inside the Open Philanthropy Project |last=Matthews |first=Dylan |author-link=Dylan Matthews |date=April 24, 2015 |access-date=April 27, 2015 |website=[[Vox (website)|Vox]] |archive-date=August 24, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824133751/https://www.vox.com/2015/4/24/8457895/givewell-open-philanthropy-charity |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=skelton/><ref name="Problems" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/pfbLKnJmDKYSPPCEW/four-focus-areas-of-effective-altruism|title=Four focus areas of effective altruism – Effective Altruism Forum|last=Muehlhauser|first=Luke|date=July 8, 2013|website=forum.effectivealtruism.org|language=en|access-date=January 12, 2019|archive-date=January 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190113063003/https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/pfbLKnJmDKYSPPCEW/four-focus-areas-of-effective-altruism|url-status=live}}</ref> |
Effective altruism is in principle open to furthering any cause that allows people to do the most good, while taking into account [[#Cause prioritization|cause neutrality]].<ref name="practical-ethics" /> Many people in the effective altruist movement have prioritized global health and development, animal welfare, and mitigating risks that threaten the future of humanity.<ref name="vox">{{cite web |url=https://www.vox.com/2015/4/24/8457895/givewell-open-philanthropy-charity |title=You have $8 billion. You want to do as much good as possible. What do you do? Inside the Open Philanthropy Project |last=Matthews |first=Dylan |author-link=Dylan Matthews |date=April 24, 2015 |access-date=April 27, 2015 |website=[[Vox (website)|Vox]] |archive-date=August 24, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824133751/https://www.vox.com/2015/4/24/8457895/givewell-open-philanthropy-charity |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="skelton" /><ref name="Problems" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/pfbLKnJmDKYSPPCEW/four-focus-areas-of-effective-altruism|title=Four focus areas of effective altruism – Effective Altruism Forum|last=Muehlhauser|first=Luke|date=July 8, 2013|website=forum.effectivealtruism.org|language=en|access-date=January 12, 2019|archive-date=January 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190113063003/https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/pfbLKnJmDKYSPPCEW/four-focus-areas-of-effective-altruism|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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This practice of "weighing causes and beneficiaries against one another" has been criticized by Ken Berger and Robert Penna of [[Charity Navigator]] for being "moralistic, in the worst sense of the word".<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_elitist_philanthropy_of_so_called_effective_altruism|title=The Elitist Philanthropy of So-Called Effective Altruism|last1=Berger|first1=Ken|last2=Penna|first2=Robert|date=November 25, 2013|magazine=[[Stanford Social Innovation Review]]|access-date=2021-12-05|archive-date=2021-12-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211203014448/https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_elitist_philanthropy_of_so_called_effective_altruism|url-status=live}}</ref> MacAskill responded to Berger and Penna, defending the rationale for comparing one beneficiary's interests against another and concluding that such comparison is difficult and sometimes impossible but often necessary.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://ssir.org/articles/entry/what_charity_navigator_gets_wrong_about_effective_altruism|title=What Charity Navigator Gets Wrong About Effective Altruism|last=MacAskill|first=William|date=December 3, 2013|magazine=[[Stanford Social Innovation Review]]|access-date=2021-12-05|archive-date=2021-12-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211203054941/https://ssir.org/articles/entry/what_charity_navigator_gets_wrong_about_effective_altruism|url-status=live}}</ref> |
This practice of "weighing causes and beneficiaries against one another" has been criticized by Ken Berger and Robert Penna of [[Charity Navigator]] for being "moralistic, in the worst sense of the word".<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_elitist_philanthropy_of_so_called_effective_altruism|title=The Elitist Philanthropy of So-Called Effective Altruism|last1=Berger|first1=Ken|last2=Penna|first2=Robert|date=November 25, 2013|magazine=[[Stanford Social Innovation Review]]|access-date=2021-12-05|archive-date=2021-12-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211203014448/https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_elitist_philanthropy_of_so_called_effective_altruism|url-status=live}}</ref> MacAskill responded to Berger and Penna, defending the rationale for comparing one beneficiary's interests against another and concluding that such comparison is difficult and sometimes impossible but often necessary.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://ssir.org/articles/entry/what_charity_navigator_gets_wrong_about_effective_altruism|title=What Charity Navigator Gets Wrong About Effective Altruism|last=MacAskill|first=William|date=December 3, 2013|magazine=[[Stanford Social Innovation Review]]|access-date=2021-12-05|archive-date=2021-12-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211203054941/https://ssir.org/articles/entry/what_charity_navigator_gets_wrong_about_effective_altruism|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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[[File:Fot.Andrew Skowron (47949308031).jpg|thumb|right|250px|An industrial [[chicken farm]] in [[Ukraine]]]] |
[[File:Fot.Andrew Skowron (47949308031).jpg|thumb|right|250px|An industrial [[chicken farm]] in [[Ukraine]]]] |
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Improving [[animal welfare]] has been a focus of many effective altruists.<ref>{{Cite web| last = Gunther| first = Marc| title = Why the future of animal welfare lies beyond the West| work = Vox| accessdate = 2022-01-14| date = 2021-11-26| url = https://www.vox.com/2021/11/26/22772693/animal-rights-welfare-movement-global-factory-farming}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| last = Klein| first = Ezra| title = Peter Singer on the lives you can save| work = Vox| accessdate = 2022-01-14| date = 2019-12-06| url = https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/12/6/20992100/peter-singer-effective-altruism-lives-you-can-save-animal-liberation}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| last = Matthews| first = Dylan| title = The wild frontier of animal welfare| work = Vox| accessdate = 2022-01-14| date = 2021-04-12| url = https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/22325435/animal-welfare-wild-animals-movement}}</ref> Singer and [[Animal Charity Evaluators]] have argued that effective animal welfare altruists should prioritize changes to [[Intensive animal farming|factory farming]] over pet welfare.<ref name="kristof" /><ref name |
Improving [[animal welfare]] has been a focus of many effective altruists.<ref>{{Cite web| last = Gunther| first = Marc| title = Why the future of animal welfare lies beyond the West| work = Vox| accessdate = 2022-01-14| date = 2021-11-26| url = https://www.vox.com/2021/11/26/22772693/animal-rights-welfare-movement-global-factory-farming}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| last = Klein| first = Ezra| title = Peter Singer on the lives you can save| work = Vox| accessdate = 2022-01-14| date = 2019-12-06| url = https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/12/6/20992100/peter-singer-effective-altruism-lives-you-can-save-animal-liberation}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| last = Matthews| first = Dylan| title = The wild frontier of animal welfare| work = Vox| accessdate = 2022-01-14| date = 2021-04-12| url = https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/22325435/animal-welfare-wild-animals-movement}}</ref> Singer and [[Animal Charity Evaluators]] have argued that effective animal welfare altruists should prioritize changes to [[Intensive animal farming|factory farming]] over pet welfare.<ref name="kristof" /><ref name="whyfarmedanimals" /> 60 billion land animals are [[Animal slaughter|slaughtered]] and between 1 and 2.7 trillion individual fish are killed each year for human consumption.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cif-green/2010/sep/14/fish-forgotten-victims|title=Fish: the forgotten victims on our plate|date=2010-09-14|work=The Guardian|access-date=June 14, 2017|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=2017-08-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801072456/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cif-green/2010/sep/14/fish-forgotten-victims|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/animalwelfare/GlobalWarningExecutiveSummary1.pdf|title=Global Warming Climate Change and Farm Animal Welfare|publisher=Compassion in World Farming|year=2008|access-date=2017-06-14|archive-date=2016-05-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160527193033/http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/animalwelfare/GlobalWarningExecutiveSummary1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=http://www.fishcount.org.uk/published/standard/fishcountfullrptSR.pdf|title=Worse things happen at sea: the welfare of wild-caught fish|last=Mood|first=Alison|publisher=fishcount.org.uk|year=2010|access-date=2017-06-14|archive-date=2017-05-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519182157/http://www.fishcount.org.uk/published/standard/fishcountfullrptSR.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Alternatively, [[Animal Ethics (organization)|Animal Ethics]] and [[Wild Animal Initiative]] focus on [[wild animal suffering]].<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|last=Matthews|first=Dylan|date=2021-04-12|title=The wild frontier of animal welfare|url=https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/22325435/animal-welfare-wild-animals-movement|access-date=2021-09-05|website=Vox|language=en}}</ref><ref name="auto3">{{cite web|title="Effective Altruism for Animals" Panel, Animal Studies|url=http://animalstudies.as.nyu.edu/object/as.events.20150729|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312085320/http://animalstudies.as.nyu.edu/object/as.events.20150729|archive-date=12 March 2017|access-date=11 March 2017|website=New York University Animal Studies Initiative|publisher=NYU}}</ref> Other animal initiatives affiliated with effective altruism include [[Animal Ethics]]' and [[Wild Animal Initiative]]'s work on [[wild animal suffering]],<ref name="auto1" /><ref name="auto3" /> addressing farm animal suffering with [[cultured meat]],<ref>{{Cite web| title = How one founder aims to bring researchers and food producers together around cultured meat| work = TechCrunch| accessdate = 2022-01-14| url = https://social.techcrunch.com/2021/08/23/how-one-founder-aims-to-bring-researchers-and-food-producers-together-around-cultured-meat/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| title = Is Anyone Right About the Future of Cultivated Meat? Does It Matter?| work = Green Queen| accessdate = 2022-01-14| date = 2021-11-09| url = https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/cultivated-meat-future/}}</ref> and expanding the circle of concern so that people care more about all kinds of animals.<ref>{{Cite news| last = Lombrozo| first = Tania| title = Expanding The Circle Of Moral Concern| work = NPR| accessdate = 2022-01-14| date = 2016-11-15| url = https://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2016/11/15/501972594/expanding-the-circle-of-moral-concern}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| last = Samuel| first = Sigal| title = Should animals, plants, and robots have the same rights as you?| work = Vox| accessdate = 2022-01-14| date = 2019-04-04| url = https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/4/4/18285986/robot-animal-nature-expanding-moral-circle-peter-singer}}</ref><ref name="auto2" /> |
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A number of non-profit organizations have been established that adopt an effective altruist approach toward animal welfare. Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE) evaluates animal charities based on their cost-effectiveness and transparency, particularly those tackling factory farming.<ref name="animal-welfare-vox" /><ref name="auto">Daniel Engber, [http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2016/08/animal_activists_crunched_the_numbers_to_learn_that_the_creature_most_in.html "Save the Chicken"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161004073114/http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2016/08/animal_activists_crunched_the_numbers_to_learn_that_the_creature_most_in.html |date=2016-10-04 }}, ''Slate'', August 18, 2016.</ref><ref name="Singer2015"/>{{rp|139}} [[Faunalytics]] focuses on animal welfare research.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/10/31/18026418/vegan-vegetarian-animal-welfare-corporate-advocacy|title=Vegan diets are hard to sell. Animal activists might do better focused on corporate decisions, not people's plates.|last=Piper|first=Kelsey|date=2018-10-31|website=Vox|access-date=2019-01-12|archive-date=2019-01-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190113232119/https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/10/31/18026418/vegan-vegetarian-animal-welfare-corporate-advocacy|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://faunalytics.org/about/|title=What We Do|website=Faunalytics|language=en-US|access-date=2019-01-12|archive-date=2019-01-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190113062915/https://faunalytics.org/about/|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Sentience Institute]] is a [[think tank]] founded to expand the moral circle to other species.<ref>{{cite web |last=Sigal |first=Samuel |date=2019-04-04 |title=Moral circle expansion: should animals, plants, and robots have the same rights as humans? |url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/4/4/18285986/robot-animal-nature-expanding-moral-circle-peter-singer |website=Vox |access-date=2021-12-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |access-date=5 August 2019 |title=Introducing Sentience Institute |url=https://www.sentienceinstitute.org/blog/introducing-sentience-institute |last1=Witwicki |first1=Kelly |last2=Reese |first2=Jacy |publisher=Sentience Institute |archive-date=5 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805205839/https://www.sentienceinstitute.org/blog/introducing-sentience-institute |url-status=live }}</ref> |
A number of non-profit organizations have been established that adopt an effective altruist approach toward animal welfare. Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE) evaluates animal charities based on their cost-effectiveness and transparency, particularly those tackling factory farming.<ref name="animal-welfare-vox" /><ref name="auto">Daniel Engber, [http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2016/08/animal_activists_crunched_the_numbers_to_learn_that_the_creature_most_in.html "Save the Chicken"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161004073114/http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2016/08/animal_activists_crunched_the_numbers_to_learn_that_the_creature_most_in.html |date=2016-10-04 }}, ''Slate'', August 18, 2016.</ref><ref name="Singer2015" />{{rp|139}} [[Faunalytics]] focuses on animal welfare research.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/10/31/18026418/vegan-vegetarian-animal-welfare-corporate-advocacy|title=Vegan diets are hard to sell. Animal activists might do better focused on corporate decisions, not people's plates.|last=Piper|first=Kelsey|date=2018-10-31|website=Vox|access-date=2019-01-12|archive-date=2019-01-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190113232119/https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/10/31/18026418/vegan-vegetarian-animal-welfare-corporate-advocacy|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://faunalytics.org/about/|title=What We Do|website=Faunalytics|language=en-US|access-date=2019-01-12|archive-date=2019-01-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190113062915/https://faunalytics.org/about/|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Sentience Institute]] is a [[think tank]] founded to expand the moral circle to other species.<ref>{{cite web |last=Sigal |first=Samuel |date=2019-04-04 |title=Moral circle expansion: should animals, plants, and robots have the same rights as humans? |url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/4/4/18285986/robot-animal-nature-expanding-moral-circle-peter-singer |website=Vox |access-date=2021-12-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |access-date=5 August 2019 |title=Introducing Sentience Institute |url=https://www.sentienceinstitute.org/blog/introducing-sentience-institute |last1=Witwicki |first1=Kelly |last2=Reese |first2=Jacy |publisher=Sentience Institute |archive-date=5 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805205839/https://www.sentienceinstitute.org/blog/introducing-sentience-institute |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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===Long-term future and global catastrophic risks<!-- linked from redirect [[Longtermism]] -->=== |
===Long-term future and global catastrophic risks<!-- linked from redirect [[Longtermism]] -->=== |
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[[File:FlorentineCodex BK12 F54 smallpox.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Global catastrophic risk]]s, such as those arising from [[pandemic]]s, are a priority of the effective altruism movement.]] |
[[File:FlorentineCodex BK12 F54 smallpox.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Global catastrophic risk]]s, such as those arising from [[pandemic]]s, are a priority of the effective altruism movement.]] |
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Some effective altruists subscribe to [[longtermism]], an ethical stance that emphasizes the importance of positively influencing the long-term future.<ref name=vox/><ref name="Todd2017"/> Longtermists believe that the welfare of future individuals is just as important as the welfare of currently existing individuals.<ref name="eaf-far-future">{{cite web|title=The Importance of the Far Future|url=https://ea-foundation.org/blog/the-importance-of-the-far-future/|website=Effective Altruism Foundation|publisher=Effective Altruism Foundation|access-date=March 11, 2017|date=August 5, 2016|archive-date=March 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312054336/https://ea-foundation.org/blog/the-importance-of-the-far-future/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bostrom|first=Nick|date=2003|title=Astronomical Waste: The Opportunity Cost of Delayed Technological Development|url=http://www.nickbostrom.com/astronomical/waste.pdf|journal=Utilitas|volume=15|issue=3|pages=308–314|doi=10.1017/S0953820800004076|citeseerx=10.1.1.429.2849| s2cid=15860897 |access-date=2017-06-15|archive-date=2017-06-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170611051355/http://www.nickbostrom.com/astronomical/waste.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Longtermist [[Toby Ord]] stated that he came to think that future risks are even more neglected than present suffering and that<ref name="PrecipiceIntro">{{cite book |last=Ord |first=Toby |title=[[The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity]] |date=2020 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=9781526600196 |location=London |chapter=Introduction |oclc=1143365836 |author-link=Toby Ord |access-date=2020-04-06 |chapter-url=https://cdn.80000hours.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/The-Precipice-Introduction-Chapter-1.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406050608/https://cdn.80000hours.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/The-Precipice-Introduction-Chapter-1.pdf |archive-date=2020-04-06 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|8}}<blockquote>the people of the future may be even more powerless to protect themselves from the risks we impose than the dispossessed of our own time.</blockquote>In particular, the importance of addressing [[existential risk]]s such as dangers associated with [[biotechnology]] and [[Existential risk from advanced artificial intelligence|advanced artificial intelligence]] is often highlighted and the subject of active research.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://80000hours.org/articles/extinction-risk/|title=Why despite global progress, humanity is probably facing its most dangerous time ever|last=Todd|first=Benjamin|date=2017|website=80,000 Hours|language=en-US|access-date=2019-01-12|archive-date=2019-01-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190113062744/https://80000hours.org/articles/extinction-risk/|url-status=live}}</ref> |
Some effective altruists subscribe to [[longtermism]], an ethical stance that emphasizes the importance of positively influencing the long-term future.<ref name="vox" /><ref name="Todd2017" /> Longtermists believe that the welfare of future individuals is just as important as the welfare of currently existing individuals.<ref name="eaf-far-future">{{cite web|title=The Importance of the Far Future|url=https://ea-foundation.org/blog/the-importance-of-the-far-future/|website=Effective Altruism Foundation|publisher=Effective Altruism Foundation|access-date=March 11, 2017|date=August 5, 2016|archive-date=March 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312054336/https://ea-foundation.org/blog/the-importance-of-the-far-future/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bostrom|first=Nick|date=2003|title=Astronomical Waste: The Opportunity Cost of Delayed Technological Development|url=http://www.nickbostrom.com/astronomical/waste.pdf|journal=Utilitas|volume=15|issue=3|pages=308–314|doi=10.1017/S0953820800004076|citeseerx=10.1.1.429.2849| s2cid=15860897 |access-date=2017-06-15|archive-date=2017-06-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170611051355/http://www.nickbostrom.com/astronomical/waste.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Longtermist [[Toby Ord]] stated that he came to think that future risks are even more neglected than present suffering and that<ref name="PrecipiceIntro">{{cite book |last=Ord |first=Toby |title=[[The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity]] |date=2020 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=9781526600196 |location=London |chapter=Introduction |oclc=1143365836 |author-link=Toby Ord |access-date=2020-04-06 |chapter-url=https://cdn.80000hours.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/The-Precipice-Introduction-Chapter-1.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406050608/https://cdn.80000hours.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/The-Precipice-Introduction-Chapter-1.pdf |archive-date=2020-04-06 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|8}}<blockquote>the people of the future may be even more powerless to protect themselves from the risks we impose than the dispossessed of our own time.</blockquote>In particular, the importance of addressing [[existential risk]]s such as dangers associated with [[biotechnology]] and [[Existential risk from advanced artificial intelligence|advanced artificial intelligence]] is often highlighted and the subject of active research.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://80000hours.org/articles/extinction-risk/|title=Why despite global progress, humanity is probably facing its most dangerous time ever|last=Todd|first=Benjamin|date=2017|website=80,000 Hours|language=en-US|access-date=2019-01-12|archive-date=2019-01-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190113062744/https://80000hours.org/articles/extinction-risk/|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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Organizations that work actively on research and advocacy for improving the long-term future, and have connections with the effective altruism community, are the [[Future of Humanity Institute]] at the University of Oxford, the [[Centre for the Study of Existential Risk]] at the University of Cambridge, and the [[Future of Life Institute]].<ref name="guan-op-ed">{{cite news|last1=Guan|first1=Melody|title=The New Social Movement of our Generation: Effective Altruism|url=http://harvardpolitics.com/harvard/new-social-movement-generation-effective-altruism/|access-date=11 March 2017|work=Harvard Political Review|date=19 April 2015|archive-date=12 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312073154/http://harvardpolitics.com/harvard/new-social-movement-generation-effective-altruism/|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition, the [[Machine Intelligence Research Institute]] is focused on the more narrow mission of [[Existential risk from artificial general intelligence#Mitigation|managing advanced artificial intelligence]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/12/21/18126576/ai-artificial-intelligence-machine-learning-safety-alignment|title=The case for taking AI seriously as a threat to humanity|last=Piper|first=Kelsey|date=2018-12-21|website=Vox|access-date=2019-01-12|archive-date=2019-01-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190113062721/https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/12/21/18126576/ai-artificial-intelligence-machine-learning-safety-alignment|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="washpost-ai">{{cite news|last1=Basulto|first1=Dominic|title=The very best ideas for preventing artificial intelligence from wrecking the planet|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2015/07/07/the-very-best-ideas-for-preventing-artificial-intelligence-from-wrecking-the-planet/|access-date=March 11, 2017|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=July 7, 2015|archive-date=March 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170316074301/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2015/07/07/the-very-best-ideas-for-preventing-artificial-intelligence-from-wrecking-the-planet/|url-status=live}}</ref> |
Organizations that work actively on research and advocacy for improving the long-term future, and have connections with the effective altruism community, are the [[Future of Humanity Institute]] at the University of Oxford, the [[Centre for the Study of Existential Risk]] at the University of Cambridge, and the [[Future of Life Institute]].<ref name="guan-op-ed">{{cite news|last1=Guan|first1=Melody|title=The New Social Movement of our Generation: Effective Altruism|url=http://harvardpolitics.com/harvard/new-social-movement-generation-effective-altruism/|access-date=11 March 2017|work=Harvard Political Review|date=19 April 2015|archive-date=12 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312073154/http://harvardpolitics.com/harvard/new-social-movement-generation-effective-altruism/|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition, the [[Machine Intelligence Research Institute]] is focused on the more narrow mission of [[Existential risk from artificial general intelligence#Mitigation|managing advanced artificial intelligence]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/12/21/18126576/ai-artificial-intelligence-machine-learning-safety-alignment|title=The case for taking AI seriously as a threat to humanity|last=Piper|first=Kelsey|date=2018-12-21|website=Vox|access-date=2019-01-12|archive-date=2019-01-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190113062721/https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/12/21/18126576/ai-artificial-intelligence-machine-learning-safety-alignment|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="washpost-ai">{{cite news|last1=Basulto|first1=Dominic|title=The very best ideas for preventing artificial intelligence from wrecking the planet|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2015/07/07/the-very-best-ideas-for-preventing-artificial-intelligence-from-wrecking-the-planet/|access-date=March 11, 2017|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=July 7, 2015|archive-date=March 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170316074301/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2015/07/07/the-very-best-ideas-for-preventing-artificial-intelligence-from-wrecking-the-planet/|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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⚫ | Effective altruists have pondered philosophical questions about the most effective ways to benefit others.<ref name="EA-IEE">{{cite encyclopedia | |
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⚫ | Effective altruism can be compatible with a wide variety of views about [[morality]] and [[meta-ethics]],<ref name="MacAskill-intro"/><ref name="EA-IEE"/> such as the normative ethical theories of [[consequentialism]], [[egalitarianism]], [[prioritarianism]], [[utilitarianism]], [[contractualism]], [[deontological ethics]], [[virtue ethics]], as well as traditional religious teachings on altruism such as in [[Christianity]].<ref name="MacAskill-intro"/><ref name="rational-do-gooder"/><ref name="EA-IEE"/> Effective altruism can also be in some tension with religion insofar as religion emphasizes spending resources on worship and evangelism instead of causes that do more good.<ref name="MacAskill-intro"/>{{rp|4}} |
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⚫ | [[Altruism]] can be motivated by different reasons. Some reasons are impartial, and others are sentimental.<ref>{{cite SEP |
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⚫ | <blockquote>It makes no moral difference whether the person I can help is a neighbor's child ten yards away from me or a Bengali whose name I shall never know, ten thousand miles away. ... The moral point of view requires us to look beyond the interests of our own society.<ref name="Singer1972">{{cite journal|last=Singer|first=Peter|date=Spring 1972|title=Famine, Affluence, and Morality|journal=[[Philosophy and Public Affairs]]|volume=1|issue=3|pages=229–243|jstor=2265052}} The essay was republished in book form in 2016 with a new preface and two extra essays by Singer: {{cite book|last=Singer|first=Peter|title=Famine, Affluence, and Morality|date=2016|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=9780190219208|location=Oxford; New York|oclc=907446001}}</ref>{{rp|231–232}}</blockquote> |
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⚫ | Many nonprofits emphasize effectiveness and evidence with a single cause in mind, such as education or climate change.<ref>{{cite web |last=Schambra |first=William A. |date=May 22, 2014 |title=Opinion: The coming showdown between philanthrolocalism and effective altruism |url=https://www.philanthropydaily.com/the-coming-showdown-between-philanthrolocalism-and-effective-altruism/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200205205424/https://www.philanthropydaily.com/the-coming-showdown-between-philanthrolocalism-and-effective-altruism/ |archive-date=February 5, 2020 |access-date=February 5, 2020 |website=Philanthropy Daily |quote=Strategic philanthropists like Paul Brest seek only to apply metrics to the selection of groups once a cause has been selected. But, altruist critics note, this foolishly leaves the choice of the cause itself willy-nilly to the all-too-often idiosyncratic, short-sighted, selfish impulses of the donor.}}</ref> Being impartial, effective altruists instead adopt cause neutrality. Cause neutrality means choosing to distribute resources based on what will do the most good, irrespective of identity of the beneficiary, and the way in which they are helped.<ref name="EA-IEE" /> Some effective altruists include people who don't exist yet as possible beneficiaries and try to benefit future people by promoting the long-term well-being of humanity by, for example, reducing [[risks to civilization, humans, and planet Earth]].<ref name="Singer2015" />{{rp|165–178}}<ref name="Todd2017">{{Cite web| |
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⚫ | Effective altruist organizations such as [[80,000 Hours]]<ref name="80K-problem-framework">{{cite web| |
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⚫ | The information required for cause prioritization may involve [[data analysis]], comparing possible outcomes with what would have happened under other conditions ([[#Counterfactual reasoning|counterfactual reasoning]]), and identifying [[uncertainty]].<ref name="EA-IEE"/><ref>{{cite journal |last=MacAskill |first=William |author-link=William MacAskill |date=September 2019b |title=Practical ethics given moral uncertainty |
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⚫ | Some charities are far more effective than others, as charities may spend different amounts of money to achieve the same goal, and some charities may not achieve the goal at all.<ref>{{cite web | |
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⚫ | Some effective altruist organizations prefer [[randomized controlled trial]]s as a primary form of evidence,<ref name="Thompson2015" /><ref name="skelton">{{cite journal|last1=Skelton|first1=Anthony|title=The ethical principles of effective altruism|journal=Journal of Global Ethics |
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⚫ | Effective altruist organizations consider the expected impact of a funding increase rather than evaluating the average value of all donations to the charity.<ref name="givewell-interview-huffpo">{{cite web|last1=Zhang|first1=Linch|title=How Can You do the Most Good with Your Charitable Giving? This Expert's Answers Might Surprise You|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/linch-zhang/how-can-you-do-the-most-g_b_10597442.html |
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⚫ | [[Counterfactual conditional|Counterfactual]] reasoning involves considering the possible outcomes of alternative choices. It has been employed by effective altruists in a number of contexts, including career choice. Many people assume that the best way to help people is through direct methods, such as working for a charity or providing social services.<ref>{{cite news | |
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== Anti-capitalist and institutional critiques == |
== Anti-capitalist and institutional critiques == |
Revision as of 21:32, 6 June 2022
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Effective altruism (EA) is a philosophical and social movement that advocates "using evidence and reason to figure out how to benefit others as much as possible, and taking action on that basis".[1][2] People who pursue the goals of effective altruism are labeled effective altruists.[3]
Common practices of effective altruists include significant charitable donation, and choosing careers based on the amount of good that the career achieves, which may include the strategy of earning to give. An estimated $416 million was donated to effective charities identified by the movement in 2019, representing a 37% annual growth rate since 2015. Famous philanthropists influenced by effective altruism include Bill and Melinda Gates, Warren Buffett, Sam Bankman-Fried, Dan Smith, and Liv Boeree.
Prominent cause priorities within effective altruism include global poverty, animal welfare, and risks to the survival of humanity over the long-term future.
The philosophy of effective altruism applies more broadly to the process of prioritizing the scientific projects, companies, and policy initiatives that can be estimated to save lives or otherwise improve well-being.[4]: 179–195 Philosophical principles of effective altruism emphasize impartiality, cause neutrality, cost-effectiveness, and counterfactual reasoning. One prominent philosophical debate is about how effective altruism relates to institutional or structural change.
The movement developed during the decade of the 2000s, and the name effective altruism was coined in 2011. Several books and many articles about the movement have since been published, and the Effective Altruism Global conference has been held since 2013.
History
Starting in the late 2000s, several communities centered around aspects of effective altruism started to converge[5]:
- The rationalist community, centered around the Singularity Institute (now MIRI) for studying the safety of artificial intelligence[6] and the LessWrong discussion forum[7][8]
- The evidence-based charity community centered around GiveWell[9], including Open Philanthropy which originally came out of GiveWell Labs but then became independent[10][11][12]
- The utilitarian internet community, centered around the Felicifia discussion forum[13]
- The community around pledging and career selection for effective giving, centered around the Giving What We Can[14] and 80,000 Hours[15][16] organizations[17][18]: 16–19
In 2011, Giving What We Can and 80,000 Hours decided to incorporate into an umbrella organization and held a vote for their new name. The "Centre for Effective Altruism" was selected.[19][17][18]: 18 The "Effective Altruists" Facebook group was set up in November 2012.[17] As the movement formed, it attracted individuals who were not part of a specific community, but who had been following Peter Singer's work on applied ethics, particularly “Famine, Affluence, and Morality” (1972), Animal Liberation (1975), and The Life You Can Save (2009). Peter Singer himself used the term in 2013, in a TED talk titled "The Why and How of Effective Altruism".[17]
The Effective Altruism Global conference has been held since 2013.[20][21] In 2015, Singer published The Most Good You Can Do.[22] In the same year MacAskill published Doing Good Better: How Effective Altruism Can Help You Make a Difference.[23][24][25] In 2018, American news website Vox launched its Future Perfect section, led by journalist Dylan Matthews, which publishes articles and podcasts on "Finding the best ways to do good"[26] [27][28], including topics such as effective philanthropy,[29] high-impact career choice,[30] poverty reduction through women's empowerment,[31] improving children's learning efficiently through improving environmental health,[32] animal welfare improvements,[33] and ways to reduce global catastrophic risks.[34]
Philosophy
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/52/Peter_Singer_MIT_Veritas.jpg/220px-Peter_Singer_MIT_Veritas.jpg)
Effective altruists have pondered philosophical questions about the most effective ways to benefit others.[35][36] Such philosophical questions shift the starting point of reasoning from "what to do" to why and how.[37] Effective altruists have yet to reach consensus on the answers to all such questions. Some effective altruists believe that they should do the most good they possibly can, termed maximizing altruism[35][38] while other effective altruists try do the most good they can within a defined budget.[36]: 15
Effective altruism can be compatible with a wide variety of views about morality and meta-ethics,[1][35] such as the normative ethical theories of consequentialism, egalitarianism, prioritarianism, utilitarianism, contractualism, deontological ethics, virtue ethics, as well as traditional religious teachings on altruism such as in Christianity.[1][39][35] Effective altruism can also be in some tension with religion insofar as religion emphasizes spending resources on worship and evangelism instead of causes that do more good.[1]: 4
Important principles that are discussed in literature about effective altruism include impartiality, cause prioritization, cost-effectiveness, and counterfactual reasoning.
Principle of impartiality
Altruism can be motivated by different reasons. Some reasons are impartial, and others are sentimental.[40] Effective altruism emphasizes impartial reasoning in that everyone's well-being counts equally.[18]: 85–95 [35][36]: 17–19 Philosopher Peter Singer, in his 1972 essay "Famine, Affluence, and Morality",[41] wrote:
It makes no moral difference whether the person I can help is a neighbor's child ten yards away from me or a Bengali whose name I shall never know, ten thousand miles away. ... The moral point of view requires us to look beyond the interests of our own society.[42]: 231–232
Cause neutrality
Many nonprofits emphasize effectiveness and evidence with a single cause in mind, such as education or climate change.[43] Being impartial, effective altruists instead adopt cause neutrality. Cause neutrality means choosing to distribute resources based on what will do the most good, irrespective of identity of the beneficiary, and the way in which they are helped.[35] Some effective altruists include people who don't exist yet as possible beneficiaries and try to benefit future people by promoting the long-term well-being of humanity by, for example, reducing risks to civilization, humans, and planet Earth.[18]: 165–178 [44][45] Some effective altruists consider the well-being of non-human animals and advocate for animal welfare issues such as ending factory farming.[46][47][48]
Practice
People practice effective altruism in different ways, such as donating to effective charitable organizations, using their career to make more money for donations or directly contributing their labor, and starting new non-profit or for-profit ventures. For example, Michael Kremer and Rachel Glennerster conducted many randomized controlled trials in Kenya to find out the best way to improve students' test scores. They tried new textbooks and flip charts, as well as smaller class sizes, but found that the only intervention that raised school attendance was treating intestinal worms in children.[25] Based on their findings, they started the Deworm the World Initiative, which is rated by GiveWell as one of the best charities in the world for cost-effectiveness.[25]
Themes
Cause prioritization
Effective altruist organizations such as 80,000 Hours[49] and Open Philanthropy[50] prioritize causes by evaluating each cause for its importance, tractability, and neglectedness. Importance is the amount of value that would be created if a problem were solved, tractability is the fraction of a problem that would be solved if additional resources were devoted to it, and neglectedness is the quantity of resources already committed to a cause. These three criteria help estimate the marginal benefit of allocating more resources, such as money or people, toward addressing an issue.
The information required for cause prioritization may involve data analysis, comparing possible outcomes with what would have happened under other conditions (counterfactual reasoning), and identifying uncertainty.[35][51] The difficulty of these tasks has led to the creation of organizations that specialize in researching the relative prioritization of causes.[35][52][53]
Cost-effectiveness
Some charities are far more effective than others, as charities may spend different amounts of money to achieve the same goal, and some charities may not achieve the goal at all.[54][55] Effective altruists seek to identify charities that are highly cost-effective.[25] For example, health interventions are selected based on their impact as measured by lives extended per dollar, quality-adjusted life years (QALY) added per dollar, or disability-adjusted life years (DALY) reduced per dollar.[4]: 34
Some effective altruist organizations prefer randomized controlled trials as a primary form of evidence,[25][56] as they are commonly considered the highest level of evidence in healthcare research.[57] Others have argued that requiring this stringent level of evidence unnecessarily narrows the focus to issues where the evidence can be developed,[58] and that historically many effective interventions have proceeded without this level of evidence.[59] Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry and others have warned about the "measurement problem":[60][58] Issues such as medical research or government reform are worked on "one grinding step at a time", and results are hard to measure with controlled experiments. Such interventions risk being undervalued by the effective altruism movement.[60]
Effective altruist organizations consider the expected impact of a funding increase rather than evaluating the average value of all donations to the charity.[61][62] This avoids donations to organizations that lack room for more funding because they face bottlenecks other than lack of money.[63] For example, a medical charity might not be able to hire enough doctors or nurses to distribute more medical supplies, or it might already be serving all of the potential patients in its market.
Counterfactual reasoning
Counterfactual reasoning involves considering the possible outcomes of alternative choices. It has been employed by effective altruists in a number of contexts, including career choice. Many people assume that the best way to help people is through direct methods, such as working for a charity or providing social services.[64] However, since there is a high supply of candidates for such positions, it makes sense to compare the amount of good one candidate does to how much good the next-best candidate would do. According to this reasoning, the marginal impact of a career is likely to be smaller than the gross impact.[65][66]
Donation
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ea/Ravi_Varma-Lady_Giving_Alms_at_the_Temple.jpg/220px-Ravi_Varma-Lady_Giving_Alms_at_the_Temple.jpg)
Many effective altruists engage in significant charitable donation. Some believe it is a moral duty to alleviate suffering through donations if other possible uses of those funds do not offer comparable benefits to oneself,[42] and some lead a frugal lifestyle in order to give more.[67]
Giving What We Can (GWWC) is an organization whose members have pledged to donate at least 10% of their future income to the causes that they believe are the most effective. GWWC was founded in 2009 by Toby Ord, a moral philosopher, who lives on £18,000 ($27,000) per year and donates the balance of his income.[68] In 2020, Ord said that people had donated over $100 million to date through the GWWC pledge.[69]
Founders Pledge is a similar initiative, founded out of the nonprofit Founders Forum for Good, whereby entrepreneurs make a legally binding commitment to donate a percentage of their personal proceeds to charity in the event that they sell their business.[70][71] As of February 2022, roughly 1,700 entrepreneurs had pledged over $7 billion and over $500 million had been donated.[72][73]
An estimated $416 million was donated to effective charities identified by the movement in 2019,[74] representing a 37% annual growth rate since 2015.[75] Two of the largest donors in the effective altruist community, Cari Tuna and Dustin Moskovitz, who had become wealthy through co-founding Facebook, hope to donate most of their net worth of over $11 billion for effective altruism causes through the private foundation Good Ventures.[76] Other prominent philanthropists influenced by effective altruism include Bill and Melinda Gates,[77] Warren Buffett,[77] Sam Bankman-Fried,[78] as well as professional poker players Dan Smith[39] and Liv Boeree.[39] One researcher estimated in 2021 that roughly $46 billion has been committed to effective altruism.[75]
Career choice
Effective altruists have argued that one's career is an important determinant of the amount of good one does,[79] both directly (through the services one provides) and indirectly (through one's consumption, investment, and donation decisions).[80]
80,000 Hours is an organization that conducts research on which careers have the largest positive social impact and provides career advice based on that research.[30][81] It considers both direct and indirect kinds of altruistic employment.[82][83]
Earning to give is a prominent approach to career choice among effective altruists. It involves choosing to work in high-paying careers with the explicit goal of donating large sums of money to charity.[84][85] Earning to give has been a subject of debate. For example, high profile individuals and institutions within the movement have disagreed on when it is appropriate to work in morally controversial jobs. William MacAskill argued in 2014 that sufficient donations might justify an otherwise morally controversial career, since the marginal impact of taking an unethical job is small if someone else would have taken it regardless, while the impact of the donations could be large.[80] In 2017, 80,000 Hours recommended that it is better to avoid careers that do significant direct harm, even if it seems like the negative consequences could be outweighed by donations. This is because the harms from such careers may be hidden or otherwise hard to measure, and because they think it is important to account for moral uncertainty—for example, not knowing to what degree one should minimize the negative consequences that one hopes to outweigh by donations.[86]
Earning to give has faced criticism from commentators such as David Brooks and Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry. In 2013, Brooks published an article criticizing the earning to give approach. He wrote that most people who work in finance and other high-paying industries value money for selfish reasons and that working among such people will cause effective altruists to become less altruistic.[87] Peter Singer responded to these criticisms in his book The Most Good You Can Do by giving examples of people who have been earning to give for years without losing their altruism.[88] Separately, Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry argued that the practice was "unsettling", explaining that "the implication seems to be that taking a high-paying job selling fraudulent mortgage-backed securities is more praiseworthy than taking a low-paying job at the local homeless shelter, so long as one buys enough anti-malarial bed nets".[60] Singer responded to this kind of "ethical objection" by arguing that effective altruists who are not utilitarians may be able to find a high-paying job that is not complicit in causing such harm, but even those who take such a complicit job have at least several ways of dealing with the situation, such as by lobbying the organization to change its harmful practices, which may be easier to do from their position inside the organization, or by quitting and blowing the whistle on the organization, which might not have been possible without gaining information while on the job.[18]: 50–54
Entrepreneurship
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Sampling_paint_for_lead_in_Madagascar%2C_to_enforce_limits_to_lead_content_in_paint.jpg/220px-Sampling_paint_for_lead_in_Madagascar%2C_to_enforce_limits_to_lead_content_in_paint.jpg)
Some effective altruists believe that best possible ways of benefiting others as much as possible might not exist yet and become entrepreneurs. Such entrepreneurs may start non-profit organizations to implement cost-effective ways of improving well-being, for-profit organizations to earn to give, or for-profit organizations to make social impact. On the non-profit side, for example, the Happier Lives Institute conducts research on the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in developing countries;[89] Canopie develops an app that provides CBT to women who are expecting or postpartum;[90] Giving Green analyzes and ranks climate interventions for effectiveness;[91][92] the Fish Welfare Initiative works on improving animal welfare in fishing and aquaculture;[93] and the Lead Exposure Elimination Project works on reducing lead poisoning in developing countries.[94] On the for-profit side, effective altruism supporter Sam Bankman-Fried founded the crypto currency exchange FTX with the explicit goal of amassing a fortune (currently more than $20 billion) and then donating most of his wealth to charity.[95][96] An example of a for-profit company that aims to make social impact is Wave, a "radically affordable" mobile money service operating in Senegal that allows for free deposits and withdrawals, and charges a 1% fee for sending money.[97]
Cause priorities
Effective altruism is in principle open to furthering any cause that allows people to do the most good, while taking into account cause neutrality.[37] Many people in the effective altruist movement have prioritized global health and development, animal welfare, and mitigating risks that threaten the future of humanity.[76][56][52][98]
This practice of "weighing causes and beneficiaries against one another" has been criticized by Ken Berger and Robert Penna of Charity Navigator for being "moralistic, in the worst sense of the word".[99] MacAskill responded to Berger and Penna, defending the rationale for comparing one beneficiary's interests against another and concluding that such comparison is difficult and sometimes impossible but often necessary.[100]
Global health and development
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f6/Women_and_children_receive_anti-malarial_nets_in_Malawi.jpg/220px-Women_and_children_receive_anti-malarial_nets_in_Malawi.jpg)
The alleviation of global poverty and neglected tropical diseases has been a focus of some of the earliest and most prominent organizations associated with effective altruism. Charity evaluator GiveWell was founded by Holden Karnofsky and Elie Hassenfeld in 2007 to address poverty[101][102], where they believe additional donations to be the most impactful.[55][103] Its leading recommendations include: malaria prevention charities Against Malaria Foundation and Malaria Consortium, deworming charities Schistosomiasis Control Initiative and Deworm the World Initiative, and GiveDirectly for direct cash transfers to beneficiaries.[104][105] The organization The Life You Can Save, which originated from Singer's book of the same name,[106] works to alleviate global poverty by promoting evidence-backed charities, conducting philanthropy education, and changing the culture of giving in affluent countries.[107][108]
While much of the initial focus of effective altruism was on direct strategies such as health interventions and cash transfers, more systematic social, economic, and political reforms meant to facilitate larger long-term poverty reduction have also attracted attention.[109] The Open Philanthropy Project, in collaboration with GiveWell, does research and philanthropic funding of more speculative and diverse causes such as policy reform, global catastrophic risk reduction and scientific research.[110][111][112][113][114]
Animal welfare
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/Fot.Andrew_Skowron_%2847949308031%29.jpg/250px-Fot.Andrew_Skowron_%2847949308031%29.jpg)
Improving animal welfare has been a focus of many effective altruists.[115][116][117] Singer and Animal Charity Evaluators have argued that effective animal welfare altruists should prioritize changes to factory farming over pet welfare.[22][48] 60 billion land animals are slaughtered and between 1 and 2.7 trillion individual fish are killed each year for human consumption.[118][119][120] Alternatively, Animal Ethics and Wild Animal Initiative focus on wild animal suffering.[121][122] Other animal initiatives affiliated with effective altruism include Animal Ethics' and Wild Animal Initiative's work on wild animal suffering,[121][122] addressing farm animal suffering with cultured meat,[123][124] and expanding the circle of concern so that people care more about all kinds of animals.[125][126][93]
A number of non-profit organizations have been established that adopt an effective altruist approach toward animal welfare. Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE) evaluates animal charities based on their cost-effectiveness and transparency, particularly those tackling factory farming.[33][127][18]: 139 Faunalytics focuses on animal welfare research.[128][129] The Sentience Institute is a think tank founded to expand the moral circle to other species.[130][131]
Long-term future and global catastrophic risks
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/FlorentineCodex_BK12_F54_smallpox.jpg/250px-FlorentineCodex_BK12_F54_smallpox.jpg)
Some effective altruists subscribe to longtermism, an ethical stance that emphasizes the importance of positively influencing the long-term future.[76][44] Longtermists believe that the welfare of future individuals is just as important as the welfare of currently existing individuals.[132][133] Longtermist Toby Ord stated that he came to think that future risks are even more neglected than present suffering and that[134]: 8
the people of the future may be even more powerless to protect themselves from the risks we impose than the dispossessed of our own time.
In particular, the importance of addressing existential risks such as dangers associated with biotechnology and advanced artificial intelligence is often highlighted and the subject of active research.[135]
Organizations that work actively on research and advocacy for improving the long-term future, and have connections with the effective altruism community, are the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford, the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk at the University of Cambridge, and the Future of Life Institute.[136] In addition, the Machine Intelligence Research Institute is focused on the more narrow mission of managing advanced artificial intelligence.[137][138]
Anti-capitalist and institutional critiques
Writing for the American socialist magazine Jacobin, Mathew Snow said in 2015 that effective-altruist methodology is specifically biased against efforts for systemic change: "Effective Altruism ... implores individuals to use their money to procure necessities for those who desperately need them, but says nothing about the system that determines how those necessities are produced and distributed in the first place".[139] Snow advocated overturning capitalism completely.[139] Joshua Kissel argued that anti-capitalism is compatible with effective altruism in theory, while adding that effective altruists and anti-capitalists have reason to be more sympathetic to each other.[140] Brian Berkey argued that support for institutional change does not contradict the principles of effective altruism, because effective altruism is open to any action that will have the greatest positive impact on the world, including the possibility of changing the existing global institutional order.[141] Elizabeth Ashford argued that people are separately obligated to donate to effective aid charities and to reform the structures that are responsible for poverty.[142] Timothy Syme summarized and critiqued various objections to anti-capitalist and institutional critiques of effective altruism.[143]
Open Philanthropy has given grants for progressive advocacy work in areas such as criminal justice,[76][144][145] economic stabilization,[76] and housing reform,[146][147] despite success being "highly uncertain" according to Open Philanthropy.[76]
See also
Notes and references
- ^ a b c d MacAskill, William (January 2017). "Effective altruism: introduction". Essays in Philosophy. 18 (1): eP1580:1–5. doi:10.7710/1526-0569.1580. ISSN 1526-0569. Archived from the original on 2019-08-07. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
- ^ The quoted definition is endorsed by a number of organizations at: "CEA's Guiding Principles". Centre For Effective Altruism. Retrieved 2021-12-03.
- ^ The term effective altruists is used to refer to people who embrace effective altruism in many published sources such as Oliver (2014), Singer (2015), and MacAskill (2017), though as Pummer & MacAskill (2020) noted, calling people "effective altruists" just means minimally that they are engaged in the project of "using evidence and reason to try to find out how to do the most good, and on this basis trying to do the most good", not that they are perfectly effective nor even that they necessarily participate in the effective altruism community.
- ^ a b MacAskill, William (2016) [2015]. Doing Good Better: How Effective Altruism Can Help You Help Others, Do Work that Matters, and Make Smarter Choices about Giving Back. New York: Avery. ISBN 9781592409662. OCLC 932001639.
- ^ "Some Early History of Effective Altruism". Retrieved 2022-06-03.
- ^ "About the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence". Retrieved 2022-06-03.
- ^ "FAQ - Lesswrongwiki". Retrieved 2022-06-03.
- ^ Chivers, Tom (2019). "Chapter 38: The Effective Altruists". The AI Does Not Hate You. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-1474608770.
- ^ Strom, Stephanie (2007-12-20). "2 Young Hedge-Fund Veterans Stir Up the World of Philanthropy". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-06-03.
- ^ Ventures, Good. "Our Vision, Mission & Initial Approach to Giving". Good Ventures. Retrieved 2022-06-03.
- ^ Matthews, Dylan (2015-04-24). "You have $8 billion. You want to do as much good as possible. What do you do?". Vox. Retrieved 2022-02-06.
- ^ "Cari Tuna and Dustin Moskovitz: Young Silicon Valley billionaires pioneer new approach to philanthropy - The Washington Post". Retrieved 2022-02-06.
- ^ "Timeline of Felicifia - Timelines". Retrieved 2022-06-03.
- ^ "Our History". Retrieved 2022-06-03.
- ^ "About us: what do we do, and how can we help?". 80,000 Hours. Retrieved 2022-06-03.
- ^ Bilberrry. "Getting inspired by cost-effective giving". The Life You Can Save. Retrieved 2022-06-03.
- ^ a b c d MacAskill, William (March 10, 2014). "The history of the term 'effective altruism'". forum.effectivealtruism.org. Archived from the original on February 20, 2020. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f Singer, Peter (2015). The Most Good You Can Do: How Effective Altruism Is Changing Ideas About Living Ethically. Castle lectures in ethics, politics, and economics. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300180275. OCLC 890614537.
- ^ Ram, Aliya (December 4, 2015). "The power and efficacy of effective altruism". Financial Times. Archived from the original on August 6, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
- ^ Pitney, Nico (July 16, 2015). "Elon Musk To Address 'Nerd Altruists' At Google HQ". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on March 10, 2017. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
- ^ "Jaan Tallinn's Keynote - Effective Altruism Summit 2013". Exponential Times. November 13, 2013. Archived from the original on August 9, 2016. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
- ^ a b Kristof, Nicholas (April 4, 2015). "The Trader Who Donates Half His Pay". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 9, 2019. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
- ^ Shariatmadari, David (August 20, 2015). "Doing Good Better by William MacAskill review – if you read this book, you'll change the charities you donate to". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on June 22, 2017. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
- ^ Cowen, Tyler (August 14, 2015). "Effective Altruism: Where Charity and Rationality Meet". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e Thompson, Derek (June 15, 2015). "The Greatest Good". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on August 20, 2019. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
- ^ Schmidt, Christine (October 15, 2018). "Will Vox's new section on effective altruism... well, do any good?". Nieman Journalism Lab. Archived from the original on February 1, 2020. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
- ^ Matthews, Dylan (October 15, 2018). "Future Perfect, explained". Vox. Archived from the original on December 25, 2019. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
- ^ "Future Perfect". www.vox.com. Archived from the original on February 1, 2020. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
- ^ Matthews, Dylan (December 17, 2019). "These are the charities where your money will do the most good". Vox. Archived from the original on August 29, 2019. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
- ^ a b Matthews, Dylan (November 28, 2018). "How to pick a career that counts". Vox. Archived from the original on December 24, 2019. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
- ^ Illing, Sean (March 8, 2019). "Want less poverty in the world? Empower women". Vox. Archived from the original on December 9, 2018. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
- ^ Yglesias, Matthew (January 8, 2020). "Installing air filters in classrooms has surprisingly large educational benefits: $1,000 can raise a class's test scores by as much as cutting class size by a third". Vox. Archived from the original on February 1, 2020. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
- ^ a b Piper, Kelsey (November 27, 2018). "Where will your donations do the most for animals?". Vox. Archived from the original on November 28, 2018. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
- ^ Piper, Kelsey (November 19, 2018). "How technological progress is making it likelier than ever that humans will destroy ourselves". Vox. Archived from the original on December 9, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Pummer, Theron; MacAskill, William (June 2020). "Effective altruism". In LaFollette, Hugh (ed.). International Encyclopedia of Ethics. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 1–9. doi:10.1002/9781444367072.wbiee883. ISBN 9781444367072. OCLC 829259960. S2CID 241220220.
- ^ a b c MacAskill, William (2019a). "The definition of effective altruism". In Greaves, Hilary; Pummer, Theron (eds.). Effective Altruism: Philosophical Issues. Engaging philosophy. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 10–28. doi:10.1093/oso/9780198841364.003.0001. ISBN 9780198841364. OCLC 1101772304.
- ^ a b Crouch, Will (May 30, 2013). "What is effective altruism?". blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk. Practical Ethics blog, Philosophy Faculty, University of Oxford. Archived from the original on October 3, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
- ^ Singer (2015) expressed a clearly normative view: "Effective altruism is based on a very simple idea: we should do the most good we can. Obeying the usual rules about not stealing, cheating, hurting, and killing is not enough, or at least not enough for those of us who have the great good fortune to live in material comfort, who can feed, house, and clothe ourselves and our families and still have money or time to spare. Living a minimally acceptable ethical life involves using a substantial part of our spare resources to make the world a better place. Living a fully ethical life involves doing the most good we can." (p. vii)
- ^ a b c Pincus-Roth, Zachary (23 September 2020). "The Rise of the Rational Do-Gooders". The Washington Post Magazine. Retrieved 2021-12-06.
- ^ Kraut, Richard (August 25, 2016). "Altruism". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2018 ed.). See especially the section "4. Why care about others?" Archived 2020-01-26 at the Wayback Machine: "Radically different ways of answering these questions [about why to benefit others] can be found in moral philosophy."
- ^ On the influence of Singer's essay "Famine, Affluence, and Morality" see, for example: Snow 2015, Singer 2015, pp. 13–20, and Lichtenberg, Judith (November 30, 2015). "Peter Singer's extremely altruistic heirs: Forty years after it was written, 'Famine, Affluence, and Morality' has spawned a radical new movement". The New Republic. Singer's arguments for impartiality were later repeated in other books by him (such as Singer 2009, Singer 2015).
- ^ a b Singer, Peter (Spring 1972). "Famine, Affluence, and Morality". Philosophy and Public Affairs. 1 (3): 229–243. JSTOR 2265052. The essay was republished in book form in 2016 with a new preface and two extra essays by Singer: Singer, Peter (2016). Famine, Affluence, and Morality. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190219208. OCLC 907446001.
- ^ Schambra, William A. (May 22, 2014). "Opinion: The coming showdown between philanthrolocalism and effective altruism". Philanthropy Daily. Archived from the original on February 5, 2020. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
Strategic philanthropists like Paul Brest seek only to apply metrics to the selection of groups once a cause has been selected. But, altruist critics note, this foolishly leaves the choice of the cause itself willy-nilly to the all-too-often idiosyncratic, short-sighted, selfish impulses of the donor.
- ^ a b Todd, Benjamin (October 24, 2017). "Introducing longtermism: How important are future generations?". 80000 Hours. Archived from the original on February 20, 2020. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
Since the future is big, there could be far more people in the future than in the present generation. This means that if you want to help people in general, your key concern shouldn't be to help the present generation, but to ensure that the future goes well in the long-term. Previously, we called this the 'long-term value thesis', though it is now most commonly called 'longtermism'. This thesis is often confused with the claim that we shouldn't do anything to help people in the present generation. But the long-term value thesis is about what most matters—what we should do about it is a further question. It might turn out that the best way to help those in the future is to improve the lives of people in the present, such as through providing health and education.
- ^ Beckstead, Nick (2019). "A brief argument for the overwhelming importance of shaping the far future". In Greaves, Hilary; Pummer, Theron (eds.). Effective Altruism: Philosophical Issues. Engaging philosophy. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 80–98. doi:10.1093/oso/9780198841364.003.0006. ISBN 9780198841364. OCLC 1101772304.
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Further reading
- Earle, Samantha; Read, Rupert (March 2016). "Effective altruism: Is it effective? Should it be more affective?". The Philosophers' Magazine (73): 84–91. doi:10.5840/tpm20167378.
- Gabriel, Iason (August 2016). "Effective altruism and its critics". Journal of Applied Philosophy. 34 (4): 457–473. doi:10.1111/japp.12176. Archived from the original on 2021-02-15. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
- Greaves, Hilary; Pummer, Theron, eds. (2019). Effective Altruism: Philosophical Issues. Engaging philosophy. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oso/9780198841364.001.0001. ISBN 9780198841364. OCLC 1101772304.
- Lechterman, Theodore M. (January 2020). "The effective altruist's political problem". Polity. 52 (1): 88–115. doi:10.1086/706867. S2CID 212887647.
- MacAskill, William (June 2019c). "Aid scepticism and effective altruism". Journal of Practical Ethics. 7 (1): 49–60.
- McMahan, Jeff (March 2016). "Philosophical critiques of effective altruism" (PDF). The Philosophers' Magazine (73): 92–99. doi:10.5840/tpm20167379. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-02-15. Retrieved 2020-02-05.
- Piper, Kelsey (2020). "Effective altruism". In Pigliucci, Massimo; Cleary, Skye; Kaufman, Daniel (eds.). How to Live a Good Life: A Guide to Choosing Your Personal Philosophy. New York: Vintage Books. pp. 255–270. ISBN 9780525566144. OCLC 1133275390.
- Singer, Peter; Saunders-Hastings, Emma; Deaton, Angus; Gabriel, Iason; Janah, Leila; Acemoglu, Daron; Brest, Paul; MacFarquhar, Larissa; Tumber, Catherine; Reich, Rob (July 1, 2015). "Forum: The logic of effective altruism". Boston Review. Archived from the original on February 5, 2020. Retrieved February 5, 2020. An article based on the preface and first chapter of Singer's book The Most Good You Can Do was published in the Boston Review on July 1, 2015, with a forum of responses by other writers and a final response by Singer.
- Zuolo, Federico (July 2019). "Beyond moral efficiency: effective altruism and theorizing about effectiveness". Utilitas. 32: 19–32. doi:10.1017/S0953820819000281. hdl:11567/1005385. S2CID 201390996. Archived from the original on 2021-02-15. Retrieved 2020-02-05.
External links
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