It’s tempting to bend on the geographic equality aspect of EA because most people are primarily concerned with their own country, but worldwide human equality is so important from a moral point of view that I don’t think we should be flexible in this regard. My view of altruism is that it should be about others, not about oneself and one’s personal biases. If there were first world charities that were even in the ballpark of cost efficient reduction of suffering that we can get in the third world, perhaps it may be worth putting that charity in a “Best of Country” category, but as far as I know that isn’t even the case, so I’d stick to developing world causes. Not only that, but if an extremely efficient charity was created in the first world, you wouldn’t think it would be underfunded for long.
Another point I’d like to make is regarding meditation promotion as an altruistic endeavor. Effective altruism is about maximizing the benefit that you can have for others, so why should it be limited to physical well being? Spiritual/psychological well being is just as important! I don’t know how promoting meditation would work or how quantifiable it would be, but I just wanted to comment that it’s good that people’s spiritual lives are also being recognized. Not only is meditation good for a person psychologically, but it can also has positive social effects ie. decreasing violent conflicts.
It’s tempting to bend on the geographic equality aspect of EA because most people are primarily concerned with their own country, but worldwide human equality is so important from a moral point of view that I don’t think we should be flexible in this regard. My view of altruism is that it should be about others, not about oneself and one’s personal biases. If there were first world charities that were even in the ballpark of cost efficient reduction of suffering that we can get in the third world, perhaps it may be worth putting that charity in a “Best of Country” category, but as far as I know that isn’t even the case, so I’d stick to developing world causes. Not only that, but if an extremely efficient charity was created in the first world, you wouldn’t think it would be underfunded for long.
Another point I’d like to make is regarding meditation promotion as an altruistic endeavor. Effective altruism is about maximizing the benefit that you can have for others, so why should it be limited to physical well being? Spiritual/psychological well being is just as important! I don’t know how promoting meditation would work or how quantifiable it would be, but I just wanted to comment that it’s good that people’s spiritual lives are also being recognized. Not only is meditation good for a person psychologically, but it can also has positive social effects ie. decreasing violent conflicts.