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A review by algorithm0392
Doing Good Better: How Effective Altruism Can Help You Make a Difference by William MacAskill
3.0
I’ve been reading around the margins of effective altruism for a while, and figured it was about time to see what it is really about - especially given recent news with FTX and SBF, with its entanglements with the EA cause and leaders like Will MacAskill.
Doing Good Better does a good job establishing a framework for motivated do-goodness, which I largely agree with, even if I disagree with some of the conclusions — earn to give, presented here, as well as longtermism.
Having gone a more non-traditional career path and working in the nonprofit and government worlds, I’ve been trying to formulate and refine a thesis for change. While I don’t agree with many EA conclusions, it’s a helpful foil for refining my own worldview.
Aside from the conclusions I don’t see eye to eye on, perhaps even more off putting is the condescension and haughtiness the book and many EA adherents adopt as their primary tone, as if they alone lay claim to the one true way. There’s not a lot of intellectual humility.
Doing Good Better does a good job establishing a framework for motivated do-goodness, which I largely agree with, even if I disagree with some of the conclusions — earn to give, presented here, as well as longtermism.
Having gone a more non-traditional career path and working in the nonprofit and government worlds, I’ve been trying to formulate and refine a thesis for change. While I don’t agree with many EA conclusions, it’s a helpful foil for refining my own worldview.
Aside from the conclusions I don’t see eye to eye on, perhaps even more off putting is the condescension and haughtiness the book and many EA adherents adopt as their primary tone, as if they alone lay claim to the one true way. There’s not a lot of intellectual humility.