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

by William MacAskill

few people who have ever existed have had so much power to help others as we have today.

we have the opportunity to provide a benefit for others that is one hundred times greater than the benefit we could provide for ourselves.

how many people benefit, and by how much? This is the first key question of effective altruism.

Research shows that the most consistent predictor of job satisfaction is engaging work, which can be broken down into five factors (this is known in psychology as the ‘job characteristics theory’): Independence – To what extent do you have control over how you go about your work? Sense of Completion – To what extent does the job involve completing a whole piece of work, so that your contribution to the end product is easily visible, rather than being merely a small part of a much larger product? Variety – To what extent does the job require you to perform a range of different activities, using different skills and talents? Feedback from the job – How easy is it to know whether you’re performing well or badly? Contribution – To what extent does your work ‘make a difference’, as defined by positive contributions to the wellbeing of other people?

these factors are similar to those required to develop flow, the pleasurable state of being so immersed in an activity that you’re completely free of distractions and lose track of time, which some psychologists have argued is the key to having genuinely satisfying experiences.

following your passion is a poor way to determine whether a given career path will make you happy. Rather, passion grows out of work that has the right features.

In general, we recommend people think of three primary routes by which they can have impact on the job. The first is through the labour you provide. This can be the work you do if you are employed by an effective organisation, or the research you do if you are a researcher. The second is the money you can give. The third is the influence you can have on other people.

the brain is a malleable organ. Every time you do an activity, or have a thought, you are changing a piece of yourself into something slightly different than it was before. Every hour you spend with others, you become more like the people around you. Gradually, you become a different person. If there is a large gap between your daily conduct and your core commitment, you will become more like your daily activities and less attached to your original commitment.

For your birthday, instead of presents you could ask for donations to a highly effective charity,