264 books
—
156 voters
Effective Altruism
Effective altruism is a philosophy and social movement that advocates using evidence and reasoning to determine the most effective ways to benefit others. Altruism refers to improving the lives of others—as opposed to egoism, which emphasizes only self-interest. Effectiveness refers to doing the most good with whatever resources are available—as opposed to only doing some amount of good—as well as determining what is the most good by using evidence and reasoning—as opposed to only doing what feels good or appears intuitively appealing.
“
The mathematical challenge of finding the greatest good can expand the heart. Empathy opens the mind to suffering, and math keeps it open.
”
―
―
“
[W]e live at a time in which we have the technology easily to gather information about people thousands of miles away, the ability to significantly influence their lives, and the scientific knowledge to work out what the most effective ways of helping are. For these reasons, few people who have ever existed have had so much power to help others as we have today.
”
―
―
A book group for anyone affiliated with Harvard or MIT who is interested in existential risk and…more
4 members,
last active 5 years ago
Recommend books, see what other people are reading, start a discussion, what have you.
N.B. Thi…more
665 members,
last active 3 months ago
We've got books, we've got booze, we've got an aversion to suffering. Welcome to the EA Kansas C…more
7 members,
last active 5 years ago