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Reviews
Doing Good Better: How Effective Altruism Can Help You Make a Difference by William MacAskill
dekaj's review
4.0
Effective altruism is about how you can make the biggest positive change. MacAskill shows ut how we can evaluate the effectiveness of how we use our time and money to help a cause.
The book is well written, with a clear structure, and gives clear advice. It gives us a toolset, and it is up to us whether we use it or not. If you disagree with the author's way of evaluating different charities, that's fine, but I think it important to be aware of that choice.
This can make for some hard Truths. Especially when it comes to how some well intentioned actions can have outcomes completely oppimosite of what we wanted.
- a ban on child labour led to worsening living conditions for laid-off underage garment workers.
- a study found that it was better for the climate to eat tomatoes grown in Spain, than locally grown tomatoes in Northern Europe, "because the emissions generated by heating and lighting greenhouses dwarfed the emissions generated by transportation". Oups.
-since the living conditions for chickens and pigs are so abhorrent, making someone replace their beef with chicken can lead to more animal suffering.
Now, these examples do not mean that we should simply stop trying, but it is a reminder to look at the broader picture, and to understand that every action have consequences. By knowing what these are beforehand, and event the possible-but-not-probable consequences, the we can better mitigate them.
The book is well written, with a clear structure, and gives clear advice. It gives us a toolset, and it is up to us whether we use it or not. If you disagree with the author's way of evaluating different charities, that's fine, but I think it important to be aware of that choice.
This can make for some hard Truths. Especially when it comes to how some well intentioned actions can have outcomes completely oppimosite of what we wanted.
- a ban on child labour led to worsening living conditions for laid-off underage garment workers.
- a study found that it was better for the climate to eat tomatoes grown in Spain, than locally grown tomatoes in Northern Europe, "because the emissions generated by heating and lighting greenhouses dwarfed the emissions generated by transportation". Oups.
-since the living conditions for chickens and pigs are so abhorrent, making someone replace their beef with chicken can lead to more animal suffering.
Now, these examples do not mean that we should simply stop trying, but it is a reminder to look at the broader picture, and to understand that every action have consequences. By knowing what these are beforehand, and event the possible-but-not-probable consequences, the we can better mitigate them.
shermreads's review
full of hot takes. a systematic, highly rational approach to altruism, this book felt like it was more for givers rather than participants/innovators within the field of change. that being said I super intrigued by the argument of earning to give vs social sector careers – somewhat of a paradigm shift for me!
shannontay's review
4.0
This was really interesting! I love it that the author gave concrete ideas about how we can give more effectively. I wish there was an added chapter about the current pandemic - I have so many questions for the author about what is most effective right now!
brandidean's review
4.0
There is a lot to like about this book. It was really very eye opening in a lot of ways. Very important information if you want to really do the most good you can with what you have. And a lot of it is well-researched, counterintuitive advice that I, at least, wouldn't have come up with on my own.
There are some negatives, though. 1) He entirely disregards personal connections and passions in a way that I don't think is realistic. It's not for me, anyway, and I bet more people are like me than not. Even if your money will save more people buying mosquito nets than funding cancer research, if you know someone who died of cancer, there's some weight to that. Same with proximity. Maybe it's not fair, but it's true. 2) It was almost disheartening in some places. Things that you think are good that aren't. Like buying Fair Trade. 3) Despite my best intentions, and despite him warning against it, I know that I will probably use some of this as an excuse NOT to do good, rather than to do good better. Like with disaster relief. I already suspected (and had heard evidence elsewhere for) what he says about disaster relief not being a good investment (for lack of a better term). But I'm pretty sure that I will just not donate to disaster relief, rather than turning around and sending the money I would have sent them to some other, more worthy cause. So it feels a little like permission to be a worse person.
Still, I'm gonna try not to let that be the case and I'm giving the book 4 stars, anyway, because I do think it's a valuable read.
There are some negatives, though. 1) He entirely disregards personal connections and passions in a way that I don't think is realistic. It's not for me, anyway, and I bet more people are like me than not. Even if your money will save more people buying mosquito nets than funding cancer research, if you know someone who died of cancer, there's some weight to that. Same with proximity. Maybe it's not fair, but it's true. 2) It was almost disheartening in some places. Things that you think are good that aren't. Like buying Fair Trade. 3) Despite my best intentions, and despite him warning against it, I know that I will probably use some of this as an excuse NOT to do good, rather than to do good better. Like with disaster relief. I already suspected (and had heard evidence elsewhere for) what he says about disaster relief not being a good investment (for lack of a better term). But I'm pretty sure that I will just not donate to disaster relief, rather than turning around and sending the money I would have sent them to some other, more worthy cause. So it feels a little like permission to be a worse person.
Still, I'm gonna try not to let that be the case and I'm giving the book 4 stars, anyway, because I do think it's a valuable read.
ericaj812's review
3.0
An interesting take on the economics of altruism. I can't argue with most of the author's points about maximizing the effectiveness of every dollar/hour you donate, however this book takes away the "warm & fuzzy" feeling that should be associated with "giving" & turns altruism into something robotic - which I could argue in turn might decrease "giving rates" among those who might otherwise be interested in doing so.
ciaraohara's review
2.0
I have complicated feelings about this book!
It is well written and very well intentioned. However I find his approach to certain causes entirely problematic. Consistently putting emphasis on certain causes over others is not helpful and while it may be, again, well intentioned, it suggests that other causes are worthy of dismissal because they are not seen to affect enough people. Why do you need to constantly pit causes against each other ? He also consistently refuses to acknowledge that social profits improve people's lives in a variety of ways via various different causes. Also after I researched this book I found sooo many people stating further problems that they noticed when reading.
Overall I would say the best thing about the book is the writing and intention. The content has a long way to go - sorry!
It is well written and very well intentioned. However I find his approach to certain causes entirely problematic. Consistently putting emphasis on certain causes over others is not helpful and while it may be, again, well intentioned, it suggests that other causes are worthy of dismissal because they are not seen to affect enough people. Why do you need to constantly pit causes against each other ? He also consistently refuses to acknowledge that social profits improve people's lives in a variety of ways via various different causes. Also after I researched this book I found sooo many people stating further problems that they noticed when reading.
Overall I would say the best thing about the book is the writing and intention. The content has a long way to go - sorry!
kirsten0929's review
3.0
An evidence-based, concrete, and measurable approach (big fan!) to deciding how to spend our resources - time and money - to have the biggest impact on the world, that is, to do good better. Turns out to be quite a narrow window - healthcare in the poorest African nations, although he does also include topics like consumption and climate change.
Presents counterintuitive cases for things like how boycotting sweatshop goods and switching to fair-trade products may do more harm than good. Tries to steer us away from emotion based giving - things like disaster relief or cancer research because we know someone who has cancer - and towards causes that deal with similar or worse death tolls every day.
Although he does acknowledge that our values do come into play when we’re deciding where to give, he doesn’t leave a lot of room to give to anything other than the “best” charities with a clear conscience.
Really appreciate the evidence-based approach and the spirit of his work. I’m not 100% on board yet, but he’s got me thinking about this stuff in ways I hadn't before.
Presents counterintuitive cases for things like how boycotting sweatshop goods and switching to fair-trade products may do more harm than good. Tries to steer us away from emotion based giving - things like disaster relief or cancer research because we know someone who has cancer - and towards causes that deal with similar or worse death tolls every day.
Although he does acknowledge that our values do come into play when we’re deciding where to give, he doesn’t leave a lot of room to give to anything other than the “best” charities with a clear conscience.
Really appreciate the evidence-based approach and the spirit of his work. I’m not 100% on board yet, but he’s got me thinking about this stuff in ways I hadn't before.