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Psychological barriers to effective altruism

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Glenwspiteri (talk | contribs) at 21:56, 16 October 2023 (→‎Motivational Obstacles: Added a description about scope neglect. Included talk points under the background. Included overhead aversion under epistemic obstacles.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Ineffective Altruism

Ineffective altruism is the practice of ineffective giving.[1] It contrasts with effective altruism, which is defined as "a philosophy and social movement that advocates using the most effective, evidence-based strategies to benefit others."[1]

Background

Talk about the evolutionary approach.[2]

Talk about effective altruism.

Talk about the significance of charitable giving globally.

The Paradox of Ineffective Giving

We are motivated to give, but not motivated to give effectively.[2]

Obstacles to Effective Giving

Motivational Obstacles

Scope Neglect (Insensitivity)

Scope neglect (or scope insensitivity) is the idea that people are numb to the number of victims in large, high-stake humanitarian situations.[3][4]

Epistemic Obstacles

Overhead Aversion

References

  1. ^ a b Caviola, Lucius; Schubert, Stefan; Greene, Joshua D. (July 2021). "The Psychology of (In)Effective Altruism". Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 25 (7): 596–607. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2021.03.015. ISSN 1364-6613.
  2. ^ a b Burum, Bethany; Nowak, Martin A.; Hoffman, Moshe (December 2020). "An evolutionary explanation for ineffective altruism". Nature Human Behaviour. 4 (12): 1245–1257. doi:10.1038/s41562-020-00950-4. ISSN 2397-3374.
  3. ^ Yudkowsky, Eliezer (13 May 2007). "Scope Insensitivity". lesswrong.com. Retrieved 16 October 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ Dickert, Stephan; Västfjäll, Daniel; Kleber, Janet; Slovic, Paul (September 2015). "Scope insensitivity: The limits of intuitive valuation of human lives in public policy". Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition. 4 (3): 248–255. doi:10.1016/j.jarmac.2014.09.002. ISSN 2211-369X.