Effective altruism
Martin Hartog reflects on ‘how to do the most good’
The term ‘effective altruism’, coined by the organisations Giving What We Can and 80,000 Hours in November 2011, means trying to ensure that any efforts we make to help those less fortunate than ourselves are as successful as possible.
William MacAskill, in the first part of his remarkable book Doing Good Better: How Effective Altruism Can Help You Make A Difference, explores five key questions of effective altruism. How many people benefit, and by how much? Is this the most effective thing you can do? Is this area neglected? What would happen otherwise? What are the chances of success, and how good would success be?
These questions can be applied to a range of activities, such as what career to pursue and where to volunteer, as well as deciding which charities to support. He illustrates the relevance of these questions with two examples that are particularly striking. First, a number of different teaching methods, such as providing additional textbooks or increasing the number of teachers, were tested in attempts to improve the education of children in Kenya. This had little effect. Subsequently, however, the results of a different study, of deworming, were rather more striking. The general health of the children was improved.
The other example concerned a young man who decided to become a doctor ‘because of a desire I have to help others’. Later, he examined different options of how to use his skills as a doctor most effectively. After meticulous consideration, he opted for practising medicine in a well-paid speciality in the UK, eventually donating fifty per cent of his salary to carefully chosen charities, thereby having a much higher impact on health in the developing world than he would have had by working there.
William MacAskill questions a number of widely held beliefs. For instance, the law of diminishing returns indicates that disaster relief funds should be directed towards poorer countries, rather than responding to all that have been highly publicised, as they may involve relatively wealthy nations. He concludes that ‘in general, it makes less sense to donate to disaster relief than it does to donate to the best charities that fight poverty’. Because we are used to judging ourselves in comparison with our peers, it is easy to underestimate just how well off most of us in rich countries are, compared to those in developing ones. A donation of even a modest amount, by our standards, can have a profound effect.
The second part of the book discusses ‘Effective altruism in action’, focussing on specific charities with another five questions: What does this charity do? How cost effective is each programme area? How robust is the evidence behind each programme? How well is each programme implemented? Does the charity need additional funds?
This part includes an examination of sweatshop goods and concludes that in poor countries, even if the conditions in which those making these goods are atrocious, such work is better than being unemployed. The response should be to try to end the extreme poverty that underlies these activities. In discussing choice of careers, he cautions against ‘following a passion’, but mentions five factors that are predictive of job satisfaction: independence, sense of completion, variety, feedback from the job, and contribution.
He concludes by giving four ideas as to how any of us can pursue effective altruism: establish a habit of regular giving; write down how you’re going to incorporate effective altruism in your life; join the effective altruism community; and tell others all about it. There is a Centre for Effective Altruism based in Oxford and a number of charities based upon the principles of effective altruism. Interestingly, the most highly rated by GiveWell, the nonprofit charity evaluator, are: the Against Malaria Foundation and the Malaria Consortium; charities supporting deworming programmes; GiveDirectly; and the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative.
Perhaps this grading of charities, three of which are focused on health in poor countries, is to some extent because it is easier to obtain robust evidence of their benefits, as compared with many other charities, which may include a range of projects where the evidence of effectiveness may not be so accessible.
Effective altruism is clearly a concept of the greatest importance. We are fortunate that there are charities, and an organisation, that can help us achieve this aim.
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