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wermyhermy's review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Hella existential
luciapoptart's review against another edition
4.0
was not expecting to enjoy this so much, as i was reading this from a backlog of books that had piled up in my room! the author blends dense philosophical/historical material with poignant profiles of do-gooders very well.
jasoncomely's review against another edition
5.0
This is one of those rare life-changing books. It's about "do-gooders" who go to extremes to alleviate suffering in the world. It's a riveting and emotional read. Five stars seems inadequate for this one!
11corvus11's review against another edition
4.0
This book was not what I thought it was. I expected more of a psychological study or philosophical ramblings but it was actually a book of stories. I think the author only really interjected her opinions at the end. Most of the stories were very relatable and/or fascinating. I got annoyed with some of the stories about strict Christians at the end but that could just be because I have never been brought up around strong organized religion and did not learn much about Christianity until I took a Bible class in college.
I wish someone had handed me this book during various times in my life. It was as if she dipped into different parts of my existence with each topic she wove together in the book. It was bizarre. I think I could have benefited from it a lot as a new activist when I was completely unstable, insane, obsessed with, and overwhelmed by the hurt and terror going on around us at all times. The way MacFarquhar told the stories of each altruistic person or group really allowed the people to be whole human beings. She showed how altruism can be helpful and positive but also can devolve into authoritarianism and narcissism. These are all lessons I have partly learned over time myself through making a lot of mistakes, judging a lot of people, and burning myself out beyond belief.
I really enjoyed just settling into the lives of these people and hearing their stories. The stories of the people working in India and Japan were especially moving and fascinating. I listened to the audiobook read by the author (I am new to audiobooks but am really into how many more book I can experience now!)
Only negatives I want to note is when the author spoke about the "effective" altruism movement, I wish she would have included critiques of the "science" that movement uses to funnel money places. There are actually huge negative criticisms of the mostly non-science educated men in effective altruism claiming certain organizations do the most good and telling people to donate to them. It has been discovered that their methods are specious and there are a thousand problems with their claims. They end up wasting more money than they send to be used for good.
The other thing is that I just zoned out near the end with all of the stories about the middle class very colonizing, pushy Christian white people. I didn't really want to hear anything more about them and then another story about one would start. But, perhaps they are a good example of how "do-gooders" passion can be pushed in directions that do harm when they are wrong. (Not that everything these people did was harmful, but some of the things they did were.)
I wish someone had handed me this book during various times in my life. It was as if she dipped into different parts of my existence with each topic she wove together in the book. It was bizarre. I think I could have benefited from it a lot as a new activist when I was completely unstable, insane, obsessed with, and overwhelmed by the hurt and terror going on around us at all times. The way MacFarquhar told the stories of each altruistic person or group really allowed the people to be whole human beings. She showed how altruism can be helpful and positive but also can devolve into authoritarianism and narcissism. These are all lessons I have partly learned over time myself through making a lot of mistakes, judging a lot of people, and burning myself out beyond belief.
I really enjoyed just settling into the lives of these people and hearing their stories. The stories of the people working in India and Japan were especially moving and fascinating. I listened to the audiobook read by the author (I am new to audiobooks but am really into how many more book I can experience now!)
Only negatives I want to note is when the author spoke about the "effective" altruism movement, I wish she would have included critiques of the "science" that movement uses to funnel money places. There are actually huge negative criticisms of the mostly non-science educated men in effective altruism claiming certain organizations do the most good and telling people to donate to them. It has been discovered that their methods are specious and there are a thousand problems with their claims. They end up wasting more money than they send to be used for good.
The other thing is that I just zoned out near the end with all of the stories about the middle class very colonizing, pushy Christian white people. I didn't really want to hear anything more about them and then another story about one would start. But, perhaps they are a good example of how "do-gooders" passion can be pushed in directions that do harm when they are wrong. (Not that everything these people did was harmful, but some of the things they did were.)
bunrab's review against another edition
4.0
By now, most of us have read articles, if not entire books, about how people make decisions and choices. Often, the research behind these books includes testing people on such questions as "If there's a train coming toward you, and it's going to kill 2 people on the tracks, but you can divert it to kill only one person, what do you do?" Or, as in the title of this book, "If your spouse is drowning, and you can save her, OR you can save several strangers, what do you do, save one person because she's your spouse, or save the most number of people?" The results of such research are mostly academic, as most people never face such decisions in real life, so no one knows how they'd really react.
This book isn't about that research. Instead, it's profiles of an assortment of people who didn't just respond that of course they'd save the most number of people, rather than just one member of their own family; these people actually went out and did it, according to their lights. People who drag their families, children and all, into dangerous locales to help sick/poor/primitive strangers. People who spend all their money on helping others, to the detriment of their own family. The author describes, in the people's own word, what makes each of them tick, how they think of their own decisions.
The author also injects some information about how other people react to these extreme altruists: they are almost universally disliked. Most people are suspicious of altruism, many people are quite upset by anyone who neglects their own family, even for the greater good, and most people find these altruists extremely difficult to get along with, let alone live with. Even trained scientists and medical people regard these altruists as suspect; until quite recently, someone who wanted to be a kidney donor to a complete stranger was regarded as pathologically mentally disturbed, as the psychiatrists and doctors could not imagine that someone would be willing to do that for a stranger without some mental disturbance.
Food for thought.
This book isn't about that research. Instead, it's profiles of an assortment of people who didn't just respond that of course they'd save the most number of people, rather than just one member of their own family; these people actually went out and did it, according to their lights. People who drag their families, children and all, into dangerous locales to help sick/poor/primitive strangers. People who spend all their money on helping others, to the detriment of their own family. The author describes, in the people's own word, what makes each of them tick, how they think of their own decisions.
The author also injects some information about how other people react to these extreme altruists: they are almost universally disliked. Most people are suspicious of altruism, many people are quite upset by anyone who neglects their own family, even for the greater good, and most people find these altruists extremely difficult to get along with, let alone live with. Even trained scientists and medical people regard these altruists as suspect; until quite recently, someone who wanted to be a kidney donor to a complete stranger was regarded as pathologically mentally disturbed, as the psychiatrists and doctors could not imagine that someone would be willing to do that for a stranger without some mental disturbance.
Food for thought.
kalmeida's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
niniane's review against another edition
5.0
Mesmerizing! True stories of people who feel compelled to help strangers as much as their own family.
One couple adopts 2 kids, then a few more. They adopt babies with cerebral palsy who no one else will adopt. They see 6 Black teens in foster care who can't find a home to take all of them. So they adopt all the teens. They end up with 22 kids!
It's fun and chaotic and loving when the kids are small. When the kids become teens, they all have teen pregnancies. Many drop out of school. The parents felt helpless. But eventually the kids all get jobs and they are a huge loving family.
One Indian guy moves his family to a leper colony. After several decades, he turned it into a successful town. Then he feels bored and decides to move to a tribal village and start a clinic. After 20 years there, he decides to move to a river and protest the building of a dam.
One guy was determined to advocate for chickens. He ignored his wife and shirked housework and spent all his money and time advocating for chickens... with success! He got Costco and other chains to buy more free range chicken.
It was thought provoking to hear these stories. My spouse really cares about helping strangers, and I feel that taking care of one's own family (siblings, parents, extended relatives) is far more important. We discuss these viewpoints, and this book was interesting food for thought.
One couple adopts 2 kids, then a few more. They adopt babies with cerebral palsy who no one else will adopt. They see 6 Black teens in foster care who can't find a home to take all of them. So they adopt all the teens. They end up with 22 kids!
It's fun and chaotic and loving when the kids are small. When the kids become teens, they all have teen pregnancies. Many drop out of school. The parents felt helpless. But eventually the kids all get jobs and they are a huge loving family.
One Indian guy moves his family to a leper colony. After several decades, he turned it into a successful town. Then he feels bored and decides to move to a tribal village and start a clinic. After 20 years there, he decides to move to a river and protest the building of a dam.
One guy was determined to advocate for chickens. He ignored his wife and shirked housework and spent all his money and time advocating for chickens... with success! He got Costco and other chains to buy more free range chicken.
It was thought provoking to hear these stories. My spouse really cares about helping strangers, and I feel that taking care of one's own family (siblings, parents, extended relatives) is far more important. We discuss these viewpoints, and this book was interesting food for thought.