Doing Good Better: Effective Altruism and a Radical New Way to Make a Difference

by William MacAskill

On the framework I propose, you can compare causes by assessing them on how well they do on each of the following three dimensions: First, Scale. What’s the magnitude of this problem? How much does it affect lives in the short run and long run? Second, Neglectedness. How many resources are already being dedicated to tackling this problem? How well allocated are the resources that are currently being dedicated to the problem? Is there reason to expect this problem can’t be solved by markets or governments? Third, Tractability. How easy is it to make progress on this problem, and how easy is it to tell if you’re making progress? Do interventions within this cause exist, and how strong is the evidence behind those interventions? Do you expect to be able to discover new promising interventions within this cause? If we’re thinking about contributions of time rather than just money, then there is a fourth important dimension: Personal fit. Given your skills, resources, knowledge, connections and passions, how likely are you to make a large difference in this area?