Doing Good Better

Doing Good Better PDF Author: William MacAskill
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0698191102
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Most of us want to make a difference. We donate our time and money to charities and causes we deem worthy, choose careers we consider meaningful, and patronize businesses and buy products we believe make the world a better place. Unfortunately, we often base these decisions on assumptions and emotions rather than facts. As a result, even our best intentions often lead to ineffective—and sometimes downright harmful—outcomes. How can we do better? While a researcher at Oxford, trying to figure out which career would allow him to have the greatest impact, William MacAskill confronted this problem head on. He discovered that much of the potential for change was being squandered by lack of information, bad data, and our own prejudice. As an antidote, he and his colleagues developed effective altruism, a practical, data-driven approach that allows each of us to make a tremendous difference regardless of our resources. Effective altruists believe that it’s not enough to simply do good; we must do good better. At the core of this philosophy are five key questions that help guide our altruistic decisions: How many people benefit, and by how much? Is this the most effective thing I can do? Is this area neglected? What would have happened otherwise? What are the chances of success, and how good would success be? By applying these questions to real-life scenarios, MacAskill shows how many of our assumptions about doing good are misguided. For instance, he argues one can potentially save more lives by becoming a plastic surgeon rather than a heart surgeon; measuring overhead costs is an inaccurate gauge of a charity’s effectiveness; and, it generally doesn’t make sense for individuals to donate to disaster relief. MacAskill urges us to think differently, set aside biases, and use evidence and careful reasoning rather than act on impulse. When we do this—when we apply the head and the heart to each of our altruistic endeavors—we find that each of us has the power to do an astonishing amount of good.

Doing Good Better

Doing Good Better PDF Author: William MacAskill
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0698191102
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Get Book

Book Description
Most of us want to make a difference. We donate our time and money to charities and causes we deem worthy, choose careers we consider meaningful, and patronize businesses and buy products we believe make the world a better place. Unfortunately, we often base these decisions on assumptions and emotions rather than facts. As a result, even our best intentions often lead to ineffective—and sometimes downright harmful—outcomes. How can we do better? While a researcher at Oxford, trying to figure out which career would allow him to have the greatest impact, William MacAskill confronted this problem head on. He discovered that much of the potential for change was being squandered by lack of information, bad data, and our own prejudice. As an antidote, he and his colleagues developed effective altruism, a practical, data-driven approach that allows each of us to make a tremendous difference regardless of our resources. Effective altruists believe that it’s not enough to simply do good; we must do good better. At the core of this philosophy are five key questions that help guide our altruistic decisions: How many people benefit, and by how much? Is this the most effective thing I can do? Is this area neglected? What would have happened otherwise? What are the chances of success, and how good would success be? By applying these questions to real-life scenarios, MacAskill shows how many of our assumptions about doing good are misguided. For instance, he argues one can potentially save more lives by becoming a plastic surgeon rather than a heart surgeon; measuring overhead costs is an inaccurate gauge of a charity’s effectiveness; and, it generally doesn’t make sense for individuals to donate to disaster relief. MacAskill urges us to think differently, set aside biases, and use evidence and careful reasoning rather than act on impulse. When we do this—when we apply the head and the heart to each of our altruistic endeavors—we find that each of us has the power to do an astonishing amount of good.

Doing Good Better

Doing Good Better PDF Author: William MacAskill
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1592409105
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
Almost all of us want to make a difference. So we volunteer, donate to charity, recycle or try to cut down our carbon emissions. But rarely do we know how much of a difference we're really making. In a remarkable re-examination of the evidence, Doing Good Better reveals why buying sweatshop-produced goods benefits the poor; why cosmetic surgeons can do more good than charity workers; and why giving to a relief fund is generally not the best way to help after a natural disaster. By examining the charities you give to, the volunteering you do, the goods you buy and the career you pursue, this fascinating and often surprising guide shows how through simple actions you can improve thousands of lives - including your own.

Doing Good Better

Doing Good Better PDF Author: William MacAskill
Publisher: Guardian Faber Publishing
ISBN: 1783350504
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 198

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Book Description
A radical reassessment of how we can most effectively help others by a rising star of philosophy and leading social entrepreneur. 'A surprising and often counterintuitive look at the best ways to make a difference . . . MacAskill is that rarest of beasts: a do-gooder who uses his head more than his heart.' SUNDAY TIMES Most of us want to make a difference. We donate to charity, buy Fairtrade coffee, or try to cut down on our carbon emissions. Rarely do we know if we're really helping, and despite our best intentions, our actions can have ineffective - and sometimes downright harmful - outcomes. Confronting this problem, William MacAskill developed the concept of effective altruism, a practical, data-driven approach which shows that each of us has the power to do an astonishing amount of good, given the right information. His conclusions are often surprising; by examining the charities we give to, the goods we buy and the careers we pursue, Doing Good Better is a fascinating and original guide which shows how, through simple actions, you can improve thousands of lives - including your own. 'A data nerd after my own heart.' BILL GATES 'Required reading for anyone interested in making the world better.' STEVEN LEVITT, co-author of Freakonomics 'Effective altruism - efforts that actually help people rather than making you feel good or helping you show off - is one of the great new ideas of the 21st century. Doing Good Better is the definitive guide to this exciting new movement.' STEVEN PINKER, author of The Better Angels of Our Nature

Doing Good Better

Doing Good Better PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789814827249
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 396

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Book Description


The Way We're Working Isn't Working

The Way We're Working Isn't Working PDF Author: Tony Schwartz
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451639457
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
This book was previously titled, Be Excellent at Anything. The Way We're Working Isn't Working is one of those rare books with the power to profoundly transform the way we work and live. Demand is exceeding our capacity. The ethic of "more, bigger, faster" exacts a series of silent but pernicious costs at work, undermining our energy, focus, creativity, and passion. Nearly 75 percent of employees around the world feel disengaged at work every day. The Way We're Working Isn't Working offers a groundbreaking approach to reenergizing our lives so we’re both more satisfied and more productive—on the job and off. By integrating multidisciplinary findings from the science of high performance, Tony Schwartz, coauthor of the #1 bestselling The Power of Full Engagement, makes a persuasive case that we’re neglecting the four core needs that energize great performance: sustainability (physical); security (emotional); self-expression (mental); and significance (spiritual). Rather than running like computers at high speeds for long periods, we’re at our best when we pulse rhythmically between expending and regularly renewing energy across each of our four needs. Organizations undermine sustainable high performance by forever seeking to get more out of their people. Instead they should seek systematically to meet their four core needs so they’re freed, fueled, and inspired to bring the best of themselves to work every day. Drawing on extensive work with an extra-ordinary range of organizations, among them Google, Ford, Sony, Ernst & Young, Shell, IBM, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the Cleveland Clinic, Schwartz creates a road map for a new way of working. At the individual level, he explains how we can build specific rituals into our daily schedules to balance intense effort with regular renewal; offset emotionally draining experiences with practices that fuel resilience; move between a narrow focus on urgent demands and more strategic, creative thinking; and balance a short-term focus on immediate results with a values-driven commitment to serving the greater good. At the organizational level, he outlines new policies, practices, and cultural messages that Schwartz’s client companies have adopted. The Way We're Working Isn't Working offers individuals, leaders, and organizations a highly practical, proven set of strategies to better manage the relentlessly rising demands we all face in an increasingly complex world.

What We Owe the Future

What We Owe the Future PDF Author: William MacAskill
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 1541618637
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 423

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Book Description
An Instant New York Times Bestseller “This book will change your sense of how grand the sweep of human history could be, where you fit into it, and how much you could do to change it for the better. It's as simple, and as ambitious, as that.” —Ezra Klein An Oxford philosopher makes the case for “longtermism” — that positively influencing the long-term future is a key moral priority of our time. The fate of the world is in our hands. Humanity’s written history spans only five thousand years. Our yet-unwritten future could last for millions more — or it could end tomorrow. Astonishing numbers of people could lead lives of great happiness or unimaginable suffering, or never live at all, depending on what we choose to do today. In What We Owe The Future, philosopher William MacAskill argues for longtermism, that idea that positively influencing the distant future is a key moral priority of our time. From this perspective, it’s not enough to reverse climate change or avert the next pandemic. We must ensure that civilization would rebound if it collapsed; counter the end of moral progress; and prepare for a planet where the smartest beings are digital, not human. If we make wise choices today, our grandchildren’s grandchildren will thrive, knowing we did everything we could to give them a world full of justice, hope and beauty.

Doing Good Well

Doing Good Well PDF Author: Willie Cheng
Publisher: Epigram Books
ISBN: 981465583X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
Doing Good Well is a thinking man’s guide to the nonprofit world. It is replete with nonprofit paradigms. It provides a different twist to what one might regard as straightforward notions such as mission, staff compensation, governance and corporate social responsibility. And it surprises and challenges even as it seeks to explain charity-specific issues such as charitableness, bridging the rich/poor divide, informed giving and social entrepreneurship.

How To Be Great At Doing Good

How To Be Great At Doing Good PDF Author: Nick Cooney
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119041716
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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Book Description
Get ready to question everything you’ve been told about charity, and to find out how you can truly succeed at making the world a better place. Many of us donate to charitable causes, and millions more work or volunteer for non-profit organizations. Yet virtually none of us have been taught what it means to succeed at doing good, let alone how to do so. In short, we’ve never been encouraged to treat charity with the seriousness and rigor it deserves. How to be Great at Doing Good is a complacency-shattering guidebook for anyone who wants to actually change the world, whether as a donor, a volunteer, or a non-profit staffer. Drawing on eye-opening studies in psychology and human behavior, surprising interviews with philanthropy professionals, and the author’s fifteen years of experience founding and managing top-rated non-profits, this book is an essential read for anyone who wants to do more good with their time and money. Find out how Bill Gates and a team of MIT grads are saving thousands of lives by applying business principles to charity work – and how we can too Peer inside our brains as we donate, and discover how the same chemical forces that make us crave junk food and sex can steer us toward bad charity decisions See why following our passion and doing what we’re good at can actually doom our efforts to improve the world Learn how two seemingly identical charities can have jaw-dropping differences in impact, and find out how to pick the best one when donating Sure to generate controversy among non-profits and philanthropists who prefer business as usual, How to be Great at Doing Good reveals that a more calculated, effective approach to charity work isn’t just possible – it’s absolutely necessary for those who want to succeed at changing the world.

Moral Uncertainty

Moral Uncertainty PDF Author: William MacAskill
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198722273
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 237

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Book Description
About the bookToby Ord try to fill this gap. They argue that there are distinctive norms that govern how one ought to make decisions and defend an information-sensitive account of how to make such decisions. They do so by developing an analogy between moral uncertainty and social choice, noting that different moral views provide different amounts of information regarding our reasons for action, and arguing that the correct account of decision-making under moral uncertainty must be sensitive to that. Moral Uncertainty also tackles the problem of how to make intertheoretic comparisons, and addresses the implications of their view for metaethics and practical ethics. Very often we are uncertain about what we ought, morally, to do. We do not know how to weigh the interests of animals against humans, how strong our duties are to improve the lives of distant strangers, or how to think about the ethics of bringing new people into existence. But we still need to act. So how should we make decisions in the face of such uncertainty? Though economists and philosophers have extensively studied the issue of decision-making in the face of uncertainty about matters of fact, the question of decision-making given fundamental moral uncertainty has been neglected. In Moral Uncertainty, philosophers William MacAskill, Krister Bykvist, and Toby Ord try to fill this gap. They argue that there are distinctive norms that govern how one ought to make decisions and defend an information-sensitive account of how to make such decisions. They do so by developing an analogy between moral uncertainty and social choice, noting that different moral views provide different amounts of information regarding our reasons for action, and arguing that the correct account of decision-making under moral uncertainty must be sensitive to that. Moral Uncertainty also tackles the problem of how to make intertheoretic comparisons, and addresses the implications of their view for metaethics and practical ethics.

Doing Good Better

Doing Good Better PDF Author: Edgar Stoesz
Publisher: Good Books
ISBN: 1561488240
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 162

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Book Description
This trusted handbook for nonprofit board service is newly revised and includes new case studies and even more tips and ideas from the trenches of nonprofit board work. Doing Good Better is approachable wisdom. Edgar Stoesz has made Doing Good Better a guidebook for both board members of nonprofits, whether new to the task, or highly experienced. First, Stoesz identifies two failings common to many boards of nonprofit organizations that are often overlooked: 1. A board’s governance role is very different from the role of management. “Making this distinction requires a reorientation for most board member, because in their day jobs, they are managers or employees.” 2. Boards often fail at two matters: a.) preparation of their members, and b.) regular evaluations of their own effectiveness and focus. In practical, pointedly-written chapters, Stoesz covers: Helping Directors Understand Their Governance Role A Plan to Fulfill the Purpose Reporting Back to the Members Planning Effective Meetings Great Boards Have a Good Fight (occasionally) Working Your Way Through a Crisis Great Boards Celebrate Leaving Right Stoesz deftly interweaves background philosophy, vision, and razor-sharp specific ideas. "Discussion/Action Questions” conclude many of the chapters. In addition, Stoesz offers a “Board Evaluation Form,” a “Director’s Self-Evaluation Form,” and an outline for the “Executive Director Annual Review.”