Thanks for this post, I'd been meaning to start living up to the giving what we can pledge for a while, but this post got me over the hump of procrastination and I've started my monthly Givewell donations.
Great encouragement to put our values into action on a daily basis. Thanks for sharing about your grandpa. He sounds like a wonderful man, and I’m willing to bet that you’ll see him again and you’ll get to have that conversation about his thesis. “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.”
Isn’t the real inference from these facts that people do not in fact care about others in a universal humanist sense? We might begin to care about others once we start to know them, independently of their impacts on our own happiness, but that care does not exist overall. Certainly some—many—people donate, but almost never to the extent that a universal concern for human life would mandate they give. If nearly everyone will eventually say they’ve done enough, logic be damned, why not abandon logic now and save a few bucks?
It's true that descriptively we don't care as much about others who are far away. But my claim is that we should care about them enough to take actions that impose minor costs on us and save their lives.
I was inspired by this article to upgrade my monthly donation to GiveWell to add up to a total to be over 1 percent of my annual income.
I'm so glad to hear that!
Thanks for this post, I'd been meaning to start living up to the giving what we can pledge for a while, but this post got me over the hump of procrastination and I've started my monthly Givewell donations.
I’m so glad to hear!
Great encouragement to put our values into action on a daily basis. Thanks for sharing about your grandpa. He sounds like a wonderful man, and I’m willing to bet that you’ll see him again and you’ll get to have that conversation about his thesis. “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.”
Thank you!
Have you considered signing one of the pledges? Seems like a real great way of putting our values into action.
I’m committed to giving, but I’m uncomfortable with making a lifetime pledge.
That’s great! I’d really recommend looking into some of the givewell charities which demonstrably do lots of good.
Isn’t the real inference from these facts that people do not in fact care about others in a universal humanist sense? We might begin to care about others once we start to know them, independently of their impacts on our own happiness, but that care does not exist overall. Certainly some—many—people donate, but almost never to the extent that a universal concern for human life would mandate they give. If nearly everyone will eventually say they’ve done enough, logic be damned, why not abandon logic now and save a few bucks?
It's true that descriptively we don't care as much about others who are far away. But my claim is that we should care about them enough to take actions that impose minor costs on us and save their lives.