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08/12/2015

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Jim

Wouldn't the term 'effective altruism' be an oxymoron? Altruism is ostensibly about giving selflessly with no concern for reward. Trying to maximize altruism seems to work against that in principle - the person wants the maximum benefit from the giving, in effect wanting it to feel (and be) fully rewarding. Actually altruistic acts wouldn't care about the end product at all. They'd be given freely with no such concern.

So, I looked up Nick Cooney, the guy mentioned at the end, because my first thought was that the guy was a marketer, and how better to rationalize marketing than to use it in charity. He's not, but it does turn out that he has a book on 'effective altruism' that is for sale:
http://www.amazon.com/How-Be-Great-Doing-Good/dp/1119041716/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

He's spent his entire career earning a living off the proceeds from charity giving, too, so pure altruism with him is a bit iffy. It was strange in the Vox article that he said he "isn't an animal person" - all of his charities have been about animal suffering in the meat industry. He sounds like he's rationalizing his uber-altruism. He has helped animals with multi-million dollar ad campaigns be less uncomfortable before they are slaughtered and consumed, after all.

Interesting stuff.

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