Executive summary: Effective altruism should be driven by personal values and rational cost-benefit analysis, not by guilt or externally imposed notions of sacrifice.
Key points:
Traditional views of altruism often frame helping others as a painful sacrifice, which can create unnecessary guilt and psychological burden.
Personal values should guide ethical decisions, not external standards of “selfless” versus “selfish” actions.
Evaluating opportunities should focus on whether the potential impact aligns with one’s own deeply held principles and desired outcomes.
In the thought experiment of selling fingers for money, the key is to honestly assess whether the potential global good is more valuable to you than personal physical capability.
Effective altruism is about leveraging resources to achieve meaningful change, not about self-abnegation or feeling morally inadequate.
The most important questions are: “What do I want to achieve?” and “How can I use what I have to get what I want?”
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Executive summary: Effective altruism should be driven by personal values and rational cost-benefit analysis, not by guilt or externally imposed notions of sacrifice.
Key points:
Traditional views of altruism often frame helping others as a painful sacrifice, which can create unnecessary guilt and psychological burden.
Personal values should guide ethical decisions, not external standards of “selfless” versus “selfish” actions.
Evaluating opportunities should focus on whether the potential impact aligns with one’s own deeply held principles and desired outcomes.
In the thought experiment of selling fingers for money, the key is to honestly assess whether the potential global good is more valuable to you than personal physical capability.
Effective altruism is about leveraging resources to achieve meaningful change, not about self-abnegation or feeling morally inadequate.
The most important questions are: “What do I want to achieve?” and “How can I use what I have to get what I want?”
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, and contact us if you have feedback.