Reddit reviews Doing Good Better: How Effective Altruism Can Help You Make a Difference

In the spirit of what Pop is saying, I will take this opportunity to plug the Effective Altruist movement, which is unified around the notion of using reason and science to find the most cost-effective ways of helping people. The book Doing Good Better by Will MacAskill is a great introduction. As you will read in the book, the top charities are ~100x more effective than those in the middle of the pack. I would also recommend checking out the charity evaluator GiveWell, which finds the top charities according to the principles of Effective Altruism and transparently gives their reasoning for recommending them.

Doing Good Better: How Effective Altruism Can Help You Make A Difference - William MacAskill

This is the book that changed my life above all other books. The book explores how anybody can make a difference in the world through the new movement of effective altruism. Effective altruism is the study of figuring out which charities do the most good per dollar donated, that way you know your donation actually is making a difference. The book even explores career paths and skills you can take in order to make the biggest positive impact in the world.

I always wanted to make a difference in other's lives, and at the time I picked it up I felt like I wasn't or I couldn't but after I finished the book I realized that I could still make a difference in the world. I recommend that book to everybody and I strongly believe that anyone with the desire to make the world a better place, and gain a higher sense of wellbeing, should pick it up and read it!

Yes, that makes sense in context. I added "Doing Good Better" to my reading list. Thanks!

First to clarify, I didn't mean to imply you can't comprehend concepts like nihilism, its just not helpful to ponder them too deeply if you can't separate the intellectual conclusions from emotional states and your day-to-day decision-making!

Related to books, I will suggest books that might help you explore utilitarianism and how it might impact your career choices. Keep in mind this is just one flavor of moral philosophy, albeit a popular one, yet it might serve as a path to consider.

Practical Ethics - Peter Singer

Doing Good Better - William MacAskill

80,000 Hours - Benjamin Todd et al

Edit: Also look into stoicism, it has helped many people dealing with uncertainty.

There's a whole book on this topic: Doing Good Better: How Effective Altruism Can Help You Make a Difference

We should distinguish between literally spending time on personal wants, and actually being wasteful. The dominant thinking in Effective Altruism right now (might be what you're thinking about - see here) is that a small amount of personal recreation, etc is useful for personal and social health.

That aside, should we broadly orient our lives for the global good? There are two main questions here. First, is "the good" global and neutral? Second, can morality be very demanding? If "yes" to both, then it's pretty straightforward to presume that we should generally live for humanity (and animals maybe, but you get the point). So look into the issues of agent neutrality and moral demandingness.