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Effective Altruism: Philosophy and Practice Vanessa Thompkins “ Effective Altruism: Philosophy and Practice Vanessa Thompkins “ The mathematical challenge of finding the greatest good can expand the heart. Empathy opens the mind to suffering, and maths keeps it open. ― Derek Thompson, The Greatest Good (The Atlantic, June 15, 2015) Effective Altruism How much would you donate? More than 14 million people experiencing starvation in Africa Rokia Average donation: Average donation: $2.50 $1.25 An uncommon idea? What does effective altruism look like? Philosophy Effective Altruism Social Research movement field Philosophy Effective Altruism Social Research movement field Key principles Egalitarianism Cause neutrality ◎ Epistemic humility ◎ ◎ Key principle: egalitarianism The belief that all people are equal and deserve equal treatment and opportunities ◎ Key principle: egalitarianism Key principle: egalitarianism Key principle: egalitarianism “ I don’t think that we should discount the suffering of a being because of its species (any more than we should discount the suffering of a human because of its race, sex, IQ, etc.). The principle of equal consideration of interests, which I defend, is simply that we should give similar importance to similar interests. ― Peter Singer Key principle: egalitarianism 2019 3019 4019 5019 6019 Key principle: egalitarianism Key principle: cause neutrality Cause: a particular problem in the world; a focus area for altruistic activities ◎ Key principle: cause neutrality Cause neutrality: choosing which cause to focus on based on where you can do the most good ◎ ? Key principle: epistemic humility Everything we think we know about doing good most effectively could be wrong ◎ Philosophy Effective Altruism Social Research movement field Main research questions Which cause area(s) matter the most? In a particular cause area, which interventions are most effective? Main research questions Which cause area(s) matter the most? In a particular cause area, which interventions are most effective? Cause prioritization: how can we choose between different causes? Scale Neglectedness Tractability Cause area: global poverty Scale: around 10% of people live in extreme poverty ◎ Neglectedness: subject of much public awareness and ◎ funding Tractability: many interventions have been ◎ shown to be effective in decreasing poverty Cause area: animal welfare Scale: around 60 billion animals are farmed for food ◎ each year Neglectedness: animal charities receive a very low ◎ proportion of donations Tractability: advocacy campaigns seem to be ◎ effective Cause area: global catastrophic risks Scale: potential to significantly alter the future of humanity ◎ Neglectedness: very few researchers working in this ◎ area Tractability: research has a low probability of success ◎ Main research questions Which cause area(s) matter the most? In a particular cause area, which interventions are most effective? Global poverty interventions Against Malaria Foundation ○ Provide insecticide-treated ◎ bednets ○ Cost to save a life: $3000 Deworm the World ○ Support government-run ◎ deworming programs ○ Cost to save a child under 5: $1000 More: givewell.org ◎ Animal welfare interventions The Humane League ○ Advocate for farmed animals ◎ ○ Animals saved per $1000 donation: 6000 – 13000 The Good Food Institute ○ Development of alternatives to ◎ animal products ○ Animals saved per $1000 donation: unknown More: animalcharityevaluators.org ◎ Global catastrophic risk interventions Long-Term Future Fund ○ Provide grants to organisations ◎ seeking to reduce global catastrophic risks Research organisations ○ Research global catastrophic risks ◎ and how to reduce them ○ Examples: Future of Humanity Institute, Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, Machine Intelligence Research Institute Philosophy Effective Altruism Social Research movement field Resource allocation Time Money Skills Energy Time Volunteering • Volunteering for an EA outreach organisation • Volunteering for an effective charity Upskilling • Learning new skills that are needed by the EA movement Money Donating effectively • Researching, and directing donations to, highly effective charities • Donating to research organisations Earning to give • Choosing a career with high earning potential • Donating a large proportion of income to highly effective charities • Taking the Giving What We Can pledge Skills Research • Working for effective altruism research organisations Communication • Finding better ways to communicate effective altruism • Telling others about effective altruism Many others! • Operations, social media, graphic design, movement building, … Energy Philosophy Effective Altruism Social Research movement field Effective altruism: an opportunity “ All this fancy ethics and decision science stuff is actually about the unexpected possibility of all of us to become superheroes. Think about it, who would have thought that it's within the power of all of us to actually save hundreds or even thousands of lives just by making better, more rational everyday decisions? ― Adriano Mannino Resources used for this talk Images: https://www.iconfinder.com Slide theme: https://www.slidescarnival.com ◎ ◎ Further information Learn more about effective altruism: https://www.effectivealtruism.org/ ◎ Find highly effective charities to donate to: https://www.givewell.org/ ◎ Make tax-deductable donations to highly effective charities: https://effectivealtruism.org.au/ ◎ Discover career paths which can help you do good: https://80000hours.org/ ◎ Get involved with effective altruism locally: https://www.facebook.com/effectivealtruismmelbourne/, or email ◎ [email protected] .
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