{"id":10197,"date":"2024-09-20T09:59:27","date_gmt":"2024-09-20T09:59:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.effektivaltruism.org\/course\/week-1-the-effectiveness-mindset\/"},"modified":"2024-09-20T10:01:59","modified_gmt":"2024-09-20T10:01:59","slug":"week-1-the-effectiveness-mindset","status":"publish","type":"tva_lesson","link":"https:\/\/www.effektivaltruism.org\/en\/course\/week-1-the-effectiveness-mindset\/","title":{"rendered":"Week 1 &#8211; The Effectiveness Mindset"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Key concepts: <\/strong>Effective Altruism, Scout Mindset, Trade-offs, Differences in impact, Marginal impact<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Bonus concepts:<\/strong> Scope (in)sensitivity<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Description: <\/strong>This week we\u2019ll explore why it&#8217;s important to think carefully about how you spend your time and money to help others, and why a &#8220;scout mindset&#8221; is critical to finding the best opportunities. We will also see that some efforts to help appear to be much more effective than others, for example in one promising focus area: reducing global poverty.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Required readings<\/strong> (120 min.)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/forum.effectivealtruism.org\/s\/B79ro5zkhndbBKRRX\/p\/XKfnWebzJsdxecBDw\" style=\"outline: none;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">About this handbook<\/a> (5 min.)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Read \u201cWhat the program is about\u201d and \u201cHow we hope you\u2019ll approach this program\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/forum.effectivealtruism.org\/s\/B79ro5zkhndbBKRRX\/p\/5nkeh7LWFYQ9YGdLS\" style=\"outline: none;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Effectiveness Mindset<\/a> (2 min.)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/forum.effectivealtruism.org\/s\/B79ro5zkhndbBKRRX\/p\/ZhNaizQgYY9dXdQkM\" style=\"outline: none;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Introduction to Effective Altruism<\/a> (35 min.)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/forum.effectivealtruism.org\/s\/B79ro5zkhndbBKRRX\/p\/6dsrwxHtCgYfJNptp\" style=\"outline: none;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The world is much better. The world is awful. The world can be much better.<\/a> (10 min.)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/julia_galef_why_you_think_you_re_right_even_if_you_re_wrong?language=en\" style=\"outline: none;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Why you think you&#8217;re right &#8211; even if you&#8217;re wrong<\/a> (video) (12 min.) &#8211; Wherein Julia Galef introduces the \u201cScout Mindset\u201d &#8211; an attitude of trying to see the world how it really is.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/forum.effectivealtruism.org\/s\/x3KXkiAQ6NH8WLbkW\/p\/eNwfbeZmzaHnmAaAj\" style=\"outline: none;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Differences in impact<\/a> (2 min.)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.givingwhatwecan.org\/charity-comparisons\" style=\"outline: none;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Comparing charities &#8211; how big is the difference?<\/a> (10 min.) &#8211; Argues that the biggest determiner of one\u2019s charitable impact is where you give.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ourworldindata.org\/global-economic-inequality-introduction\" style=\"outline: none;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Global Economic Inequality<\/a> (7 min.) &#8211; Shows that most economic inequality exists between countries, rather than within them.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.givewell.org\/giving101\" style=\"outline: none;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">GiveWell&#8217;s &#8220;Giving 101&#8221; Guide<\/a> (2 min.)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/forum.effectivealtruism.org\/s\/B79ro5zkhndbBKRRX\/p\/vQpk3cxdAe5RX9xzo\" style=\"outline: none;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">We are in triage every second of every day<\/a> (5 min.) &#8211; Argues that, whether we like it or not, we are making life-or-death decisions all the time.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/forum.effectivealtruism.org\/s\/B79ro5zkhndbBKRRX\/p\/hkimyETEo76hJ6NpW\" style=\"outline: none;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">On Caring<\/a> (15 min.) &#8211; Introduces scope insensitivity &#8211; the inability for the amount that we care, emotionally, to scale with the size of the problems.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.probablygood.org\/post\/marginal-impact\" style=\"outline: none;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Marginal Impact<\/a> (5 min.) &#8211; How does thinking on the margin change our donation and career decisions?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Required exercises<\/strong> (20-30 min.)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/forum.effectivealtruism.org\/s\/x3KXkiAQ6NH8WLbkW\/p\/Ro5EPvagWaumJrLQ8\" style=\"outline: none;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Donation exercise<\/a> (20-30 min.)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Recommended<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/forum.effectivealtruism.org\/s\/B79ro5zkhndbBKRRX\/p\/jk7A3NMdbxp65kcJJ\" style=\"outline: none;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">500 Million, But Not a Single One More<\/a> (5 min.) &#8211; An ode to humanity\u2019s ability to collectively overcome ancient scourges, like smallpox, through determined effort.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/forum.effectivealtruism.org\/s\/x3KXkiAQ6NH8WLbkW\/p\/2X9rBEBwxBwxAo9Sd\" style=\"outline: none;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Moral Imperative towards Cost-Effectiveness<\/a> (15 min.)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Criticism<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/forum.effectivealtruism.org\/posts\/zdAst6ezi45cChRi6\/list-of-ways-in-which-cost-effectiveness-estimates-can-be\" style=\"outline: none;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">List of ways in which cost-effectiveness estimates can be misleading <\/a>(25 min.)<a href=\"https:\/\/forum.effectivealtruism.org\/posts\/zdAst6ezi45cChRi6\/list-of-ways-in-which-cost-effectiveness-estimates-can-be\"> <\/a>&#8211; A checklist of things to keep in mind when using cost-effectiveness estimates.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/forum.effectivealtruism.org\/posts\/bsE5t6qhGC65fEpzN\/growth-and-the-case-against-randomista-development\" style=\"outline: none;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Growth and the case against randomista development<\/a> (37 min.) &#8211; An argument that research on and advocacy for economic growth in low- and middle-income countries is more cost-effective than the things funded by proponents of randomized controlled trials development. (1 hour &#8211; if you\u2019re short on time, read Sections 1-3)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/reducing-suffering.org\/why-charities-dont-differ-astronomically-in-cost-effectiveness\/\" style=\"outline: none;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Why Charities Usually Don&#8217;t Differ Astronomically in Expected Cost-Effectiveness<\/a> (36 min.)- Argues that flow-through effects, replaceability considerations, cross-fertilisation of ideas, and low-hanging fruit add up to the conclusion that we should not expect radically more effective interventions<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 dir=\"ltr\">Write down your reflections on the readings and exercise(s) in the box below<\/h2>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Some prompts: <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\">In your own words, what is effective altruism?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\">What are the most important new ideas that you took away from the readings this week?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\">What kind of problems can we run into when we try quantifying cost-effectiveness? Are there important features of an intervention that are not captured by cost-effectiveness estimates?&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\">What don\u2019t you agree with?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\">What surprised you when doing the readings and exercises?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\">What uncertainties do you still have?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-10197","tva_lesson","type-tva_lesson","status-publish","hentry","tva_courses-ea-sweden-intro"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Effektiv Altruism<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.effektivaltruism.org\/course\/week-1-the-effectiveness-mindset\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Week 1 - The Effectiveness Mindset - Effektiv Altruism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Key concepts: Effective Altruism, Scout Mindset, Trade-offs, Differences in impact, Marginal impact\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.effektivaltruism.org\/course\/week-1-the-effectiveness-mindset\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Effektiv Altruism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-09-20T10:01:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.effektivaltruism.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Asset-1@13x.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2258\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1179\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.effektivaltruism.org\\\/course\\\/week-1-the-effectiveness-mindset\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.effektivaltruism.org\\\/course\\\/week-1-the-effectiveness-mindset\\\/\",\"name\":\"Week 1 - The Effectiveness Mindset - Effektiv Altruism\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.effektivaltruism.org\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-09-20T09:59:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-09-20T10:01:59+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.effektivaltruism.org\\\/course\\\/week-1-the-effectiveness-mindset\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.effektivaltruism.org\\\/course\\\/week-1-the-effectiveness-mindset\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.effektivaltruism.org\\\/course\\\/week-1-the-effectiveness-mindset\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.effektivaltruism.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"EA Sweden Intro Fellowship\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.effektivaltruism.org\\\/module\\\/ea-sweden-intro-fellowship\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Week 1 &#8211; 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