I have a gift wish list and I’ve put donations to EA charities on it. I think this is in general a great idea, though I can see why many people might be uncomfortable with it:
Gift-giving is a sacred ritual for some people, something we do to bond as family/friends, and a little “treat yourself” moment that happens once or twice a year. There are good psychological reasons behind it, in other words, and it is not clear that giving money to charity accomplishes all the same goals. The spectre of the “altruist who is so committed that they don’t have a life anymore” looms.
I think the response to this is to acknowledge the truth behind it, but then point out that we are a very long way from that extreme “don’t have a life anymore” situation. The status quo is currently zero charitable donations on the holidays; surely it won’t hurt much to change that a bit. Indeed, by giving something to charity at the same time that we bond and treat ourselves, we might actually improve the bonding and the treating.
I have a gift wish list and I’ve put donations to EA charities on it. I think this is in general a great idea, though I can see why many people might be uncomfortable with it:
Gift-giving is a sacred ritual for some people, something we do to bond as family/friends, and a little “treat yourself” moment that happens once or twice a year. There are good psychological reasons behind it, in other words, and it is not clear that giving money to charity accomplishes all the same goals. The spectre of the “altruist who is so committed that they don’t have a life anymore” looms.
I think the response to this is to acknowledge the truth behind it, but then point out that we are a very long way from that extreme “don’t have a life anymore” situation. The status quo is currently zero charitable donations on the holidays; surely it won’t hurt much to change that a bit. Indeed, by giving something to charity at the same time that we bond and treat ourselves, we might actually improve the bonding and the treating.