Effective Altruism is a social movement that uses evidence and reason to identify the most effective ways to help others. Its top identifying features are the goal of doing the most good you can with the resources you have, the use of empirical evidence and careful analysis as the primary methods to discern what is promising, and the application of its conclusions to real-world action.
Doing more good
Some ways of helping others are vastly more effective than others.
For instance, the Against Malaria Foundation is able to provide a child with another year of healthy life for every $100 donated, and has saved tens of thousands of children’s lives to date. On the other hand, a large majority of well-established charities fail to achieve their purported outcomes when evaluated. In fact, in many domains, the best charities can be 100 times more effective than the average charity in their field.
Many people want to help others, but it’s not always easy to identify the best ways of doing so. Effective Altruism combines moral theory, empirical research, and detailed analysis to find the most effective ways to use our resources for the greatest impact.
The movement and community
The EA movement was inspired and catalyzed by the work and advocacy of philosophers Peter Singer, Will MacAskill and Toby Ord, who explored how we can turn moral ideas into practical actions. Initially driven by Oxford philosophers, quantitative donors, and online communities, Effective altruism has grown to include tens of thousands of “aspiring Effective Altruists” in cities worldwide. Over time, its focus has expanded beyond charitable donations to include career choices, scientific research, political action, and more.
Early Effective Altruism efforts concentrated on evaluating charities with strong empirical evidence, such as those highlighted by GiveWell. Today, while the community continues to support effective charities, it also invests in groundbreaking work with the potential for significant but less certain impact. Today the community continues to support and fund such important work, but has also expanded to work that aims to achieve much more revolutionary change at the cost of lower confidence.
Though still a young movement, individuals and organizations that identify as part of Effective Altruism have directed hundreds of millions of dollars to highly effective charities in global health and development, saving tens of thousands of lives. It has also backed campaigns for humane animal treatment, improving the lives of over 100 million farm animals, and supported efforts to address catastrophic risks like global pandemics and disruptive technologies. Probably Good sees itself as part of the Effective Altruism community, and much of our methodologies and goals have been inspired by it.
Additional resources
- Introduction to Effective Altruism
- Effective Altruism – Frequently Asked Questions
- Misconceptions about Effective Altruism
- Doing Good Better
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