Many causes, few resources
There are lots of important causes in the world. Since nobody has unlimited time and money, we have to choose. Many people choose like this:
- "we should help humans first";
- "we should help the cause that moves us most";
- "it doesn't matter, all help is good."
The author suggests a different goal: making the world less bad in the most effective way possible, that is, doing the most good we can with the resources we have.
Criterion 1: how serious is the situation?
Some causes deal with more victims, worse suffering, or more deaths. The more serious the situation, the higher the priority. This is sometimes called the scale of the harm.
Criterion 2: how much of the problem can be solved?
Sometimes a problem is huge, but almost nothing can be done. Other times, a little effort solves a lot. This is called tractability.
Criterion 3: how many people are already working on it?
If a cause already has lots of people and lots of money, one more person makes less difference. If it's a neglected cause, each extra person makes a big difference.
Other lessons
- Choose the best solutions: within a cause, some strategies do much more good than others.
- Think long term: the effects of an action can last for generations.
- Treat causes, not just symptoms: sometimes it's better to go after the root of the problem than to just ease its effects.
In short
- We should try to do the most good we can with what we have.
- Scale, tractability, and neglect help us choose.
- Thinking long term and about the causes of problems matters too.