What is effective altruism?
Effective altruism is about answering a question: how can we use our resources to help others the most? We try to use evidence and reason to find the best causes to work on.
But it's no use answering the question unless we act on it. Effective altruism is about following through. It's about using our time and money to do more good.
Read more at effectivealtruism.org.
About Boston effective altruism
We’re a group that aims to help each other find our best opportunities to do good. We talk about hard problems in the world and what we can each do to make progress on them.
Some actions that group members take:
-
Donating at a personally significant level to effective charities - for example, many members donate 10% to the charities they believe are best
-
Researching different cause areas to help people find their best options for working, donating, and advocacy
-
Choosing careers that have a positive impact, like vaccine development or financial services in low-income countries
-
Working on a state ballot initiative to improve conditions on factory farms
-
Organizing conferences about the ideas of effective altruism
The Boston group includes everyone from students to professionals to retirees. If you want to explore these ideas and the actions you might take, please join us!
Calendar
Join our Facebook group or email list to be notified of future events!
You can subscribe to this calendar in your own Google calendar.
Resources
Work
80,000 Hours: you’ll spend around 80,000 hours during your career. How best to use them? This site provides career advice for people who want to have a positive impact.
Give
GiveWell: rigorously researched charity recommendations in the area of global health and development.
Animal Charity Evaluators: recommendations on the best charities helping animals.
EA Funds: donate to charitable funds managed by experts in four areas: global health and development, animal welfare, the long term future, and EA community-building.
Giving What We Can: a community of people who have pledged to donate 10% of their incomes over the course of their careers.
Connect
EA Hub: Find EA groups around the world.
EA Global: the conference series of effective altruism.
Learn
Podcasts about effective altruism
EA Forum: Read and discuss articles about effective altruism
More EA groups in Boston
Harvard Effective Altruism including groups for undergraduates and graduate students
EA Hub: Find EA groups around the world
Tufts EA group
Philosopher Derek Parfit speaking at Harvard EA