Doing Good Better: Effective Altruism and a Radical New Way to Make a Difference
A book about how to really make a difference, from a co-founder of the effective altruism movement. All of the author’s profits will be donated “to some of the world’s most effective charities”.
Most of us want to make a difference. We see suffering, injustice and death, and are moved to do something about them. But working out what that ‘something’ is, let alone actually doing it, can be a difficult and disheartening challenge.
Effective altruism is a response to this challenge. It is a research field which uses high-quality evidence and careful reasoning to work out how to help others as much as possible. It is also a community of people taking these answers seriously, by focusing their efforts on the most promising solutions to the world’s most pressing problems.
Effective altruism
Effective altruism is about doing good better. It is a philosophy and social movement focused on answering one question: How can we best help others? Our resources are limited, so we have to use them wisely.
Effective altruism is the project of:
- Using evidence and reason to find the most promising causes to work on.
- Taking action, by using our time and money to do the most good we can.
Resources
Find resources on effective altruism, including a free online course.
Reviews
Doing Good Better is a superb achievement. Will MacAskill, a leader of the effective altruism movement, and a rising star in philosophy, now displays his talent for telling stories that pack a punch. This must-read book will lead people to change their careers, their lives, and the world, for the better.
Peter Singer
Effective altruism — efforts that actually help people rather than making you feel good or helping you show off — is one of the great new ideas of the 21st century. Doing Good Better is the definitive guide to this exciting new movement.
Steven Pinker
Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, author of ‘The Better Angels of Our Nature’
- See also Giving Back: How to Do Good, Better by Derek A Bardowell (2022)
