Difference between revisions of "Effective Altruism"

Revision as of 15:46, 19 March 2021

Effective altruism is a relatively new philosophical ideology and social movement centered around the question: how do we use evidence and reasoning to best improve the lives of others?^[1] At the forefront of this movement is the philosopher Peter Singer. He theorizes that because we are able to do good, we are morally obligated to. ^[2] He goes further in this thinking and says that we can more effectively make a difference with our money by donating to international causes where smaller amounts of money can save more lives^[3]. He argues that because of the technology we have these days, we can reach any corner of the world with the click of a button, making it easier to give back. Effective altruism’s research and ease of use is all due to technology.

From EffectiveAltruism.org

What effective altruists do

One of the main focuses of effective altruism is charity and non-profit impact research.^[4] To make the biggest impact on others lives one can donate money to a charity. All charities strive to make a difference but some of them have a bigger impact than others. Effective altruists seek charities that are highly cost-effective and ones that are making progress towards their goals. This can be assessed through impact evaluations. Technological tools such as statistical software and algorithms allow groups to analyze the impact of their work. There are many organizations devoted to analyzing charity impacts, such as GiveWell.

What an average person can do

An average person can donate money to the most effective charities recommended by GiveWell. William MacAskill, who has written many foundational texts for the movement, started a non-profit called 80,000 hours that gives people career advice on how to make an impact on others through their work. An important notion within the movement is the push to “earn to give”, meaning to seek a high paying job doing whatever to be able to donate more money to effective causes.^[5] This is one way anyone can make an individual impact. The movement has grown a lot in the tech field as many tech startups have taken an EA Founder’s pledge, promising a proportion of the company’s future profits to go towards effective giving.^[6]

History of Effective Altruism

The name "Effective Altruism" was coined in 2011 by the Giving What We Can (GWWC) community and 80,000 Hours (80K), two communities dedicated to social impact and encouraging more people to use their life to do good.^[7] GWWC and 80k planned to integrate organizations as a charity under one name. In brainstorming names for this overall combined organizations, the two groups were beginning to put more value in their marketing strategy. Options for this rebrand included 'High Impact Alliance', 'Smart Giving', 'Optimal Philanthropy', and more. However, the majority of these names focused on charity specifically, rather than doing good. After a longer brainstorming session and vote, the name that was decided on was 'Effective Altruism."

In July of 2014, the Centre for Effective Altruism held its first conference called Good Done Right. The conference was held at All Souls College in Oxford. The conference sought to bring together leading thinkers to address issues related to effective altruism, such as moral philosophy, development, and health economics. ^[8]

In 2017, the Centre for Effective Altruism started supplying grants called Effective Altruism Grants. The goal of these grants was to encourage work on projects that would contribute to solving some of the world’s most important problems. The program worked to fund projects that directly contributed to helping and offering assistance, as well as projects that provided guidance on building skills that people could use to help others. Unfortunately, the Effective Altruism Grants program was discontinued in April 2020. ^[9]

Ethical Concerns

Measurable Interventions

Effective altruism promotes many charities and causes that have demonstrated technological research of their impact. Many critique that the movements focus on measurable change and data analysis is too narrow. Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry is concerned that this focus on the impact of individual medicine counts isn’t easily comparable to an organization focused on creating stronger institutions (to prevent corruption, tyranny, and war) through numbers.^[10] Charity evaluator’s algorithms can’t easily analyze their impacts so these causes are simply ignored or undervalued which is a large oversight in Gobry’s view.

Moral Offsetting

In the same article, Gobry raises another issue with effective altruism. The notion of “earn to give” in Gobry’s eyes can encourage a sense of moral offsetting. For example, “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”.^[11] Encouraging young people, looking for a way to make a positive and technically effective impact, to continue contributing to harmful institutions is a step backwards to Gobry.

Structural Change

There are many critics of the Effective Altruism movement and it’s notion of impactful giving. Anand Giridharadas voices many critiques in his book, “Winners Take All” about how the movement doesn't do enough to tackle structural change and how its message may actually have a negative impact. He says, “ by rejecting the idea that the powerful might have to sacrifice for the common good, it clings to a set of social arrangements that allow [the rich] to monopolize progress and then give symbolic scraps to the forsaken—many of whom wouldn’t need the scraps if the society were working right.”^[12]. He makes points about how the top 10% are in control of these movements who tend to lean away from changing structures that benefit them; when structural change could be one of the most effective ways to improve lives and lessen poverty. He argues that the movement doesn’t do enough to embrace that idea and actively works against it. He thinks technology has allowed for this movement to form, and tech movements could also be used to change the message.

References

1. ↑ MacAskill, W. (2017, January). Essays in philosophy. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://commons.pacificu.edu/eip/vol18/iss1/1
2. ↑ Singer, P. (2014). Ethics - CHARITY: Peter Singer: It's our duty to give. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/charity/duty_1.shtml
3. ↑ Singer, P. (2014). Ethics - CHARITY: Peter Singer: It's our duty to give. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/charity/duty_1.shtml
4. ↑ Thompson, D. (2017, November 20). The most efficient way to save a life. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/06/what-is-the-greatest-good/395768/#b06g25t20w15
5. ↑ Yale Press. (2016, June 28). "Earning to Give" leads to happiness. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from http://blog.yupnet.org/2016/08/09/earning-to-give-leads-to-happiness/
6. ↑ Butcher, M. (2015, June 10). UK tech founders take the Founders pledge to 2%, Committing $28m+ to good causes. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://techcrunch.com/2015/06/09/uk-tech-founders-take-the-founders-pledge-to-2-commiting-28m-to-good-causes/
7. ↑ MacAskill, W. (2014, March 10). The history of the term 'effective altruism'. Retrieved March 17, 2021, from https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/9a7xMXoSiQs3EYPA2/the-history-of-the-term-effective-altruism
8. ↑ Mogensen, A. (2014, April 7). CALL FOR REGISTRATION – GOOD DONE RIGHT: A CONFERENCE ON EFFECTIVE ALTRUISM. Retrieved March 18, 2021, from https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/post/2014/04/call-registration-good-done-right-conference-effective-altruism/
9. ↑ Ross, N. (2020, April 21). Brief update on EA Grants. Retrieved March 18, 2021, from https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/post/2014/04/call-registration-good-done-right-conference-effective-altruism/
10. ↑ Gobry, P. (2015, March 16). Can effective altruism really change the world? Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://theweek.com/articles/542955/effective-altruism-really-change-world
11. ↑ Gobry, P. (2015, March 16). Can effective altruism really change the world? Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://theweek.com/articles/542955/effective-altruism-really-change-world
12. ↑ Winners take all: The elite charade of changing the world [Introduction]. (2020). In 1245614127 923388681 A. Giridharadas (Author), Winners take all: The elite charade of changing the world (p. 7). London: Penguin Books.