I have just found the ideal present for everyone I know this Christmas...
A book written by William MacAskill aka someone who definitely 'talks your language' as suggested by one of my trustees who had listened to him on Radio 4 talking about Mark Zuckerberg’s new foundation and his promise to give away the majority of his fortune in his lifetime.
Will is based at the University of Oxford in the Centre for Effective Altruism where he and his colleagues are on a mission to develop effective altruism, a practical, data-driven approach that allows each of us to make a tremendous difference regardless of our resources.
Doing Good Better, offers I believe, several practical ideas for us all to build on the momentum gained by #GivingTuesday the global day of giving, which took place earlier this week for anyone like myself who was in desperate need of
an antidote to all the consumerism and excess of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Trying to figure out which career would allow him to have the greatest impact, William MacAskill discovered that much of the potential for change was being squandered by lack of information, bad data, and our own prejudice. At the core of this philosophy are five key questions that help guide our altruistic decisions: How many people benefit, and by how much? Is this the most effective thing I can do? Is this area neglected? What would have happened otherwise? What are the chances of success, and how good would success be? MacAskill shows how many of our assumptions about doing good are misguided. He argues one can potentially save more lives by becoming a plastic surgeon rather than a heart surgeon; measuring overhead costs is an inaccurate gauge of a charity’s effectiveness...
