I think we are underestimating the positive impact of giving and by underestimating it we’re damaging the movement
Choosing to give normalises giving. Being selfless normalises selflessness. The subtle impact of normalising something is difficult to predict and difficult to measure but it can have big impacts especially if large numbers of people are involved. It can influence how people think, behave and vote. This is how social movements work.
There is massive potential impact in influencing people around the world to think, behave and vote in ways that are less self-interested.
My experience of the Effective Altruism movement is that there seems to be a growing focus on pursuing high-impact careers (per 80,000 Hours) and less focus on giving. I worry that we are underestimating the potential impact of a coordinated social movement of giving.
We should be very careful about shifting focus from “Earning to Give” to “Impactful Careers” if we could be underestimating the positive impact of the act of giving itself
The act of giving itself has positive impact
I think we are underestimating the positive impact of giving and by underestimating it we’re damaging the movement
Choosing to give normalises giving. Being selfless normalises selflessness. The subtle impact of normalising something is difficult to predict and difficult to measure but it can have big impacts especially if large numbers of people are involved. It can influence how people think, behave and vote. This is how social movements work.
There is massive potential impact in influencing people around the world to think, behave and vote in ways that are less self-interested.
My experience of the Effective Altruism movement is that there seems to be a growing focus on pursuing high-impact careers (per 80,000 Hours) and less focus on giving. I worry that we are underestimating the potential impact of a coordinated social movement of giving.
We should be very careful about shifting focus from “Earning to Give” to “Impactful Careers” if we could be underestimating the positive impact of the act of giving itself