Ten: Benjamin Todd on the core of effective altruism and how to argue for it

Effective Altruism: An Introduction – 80,000 Hours

Is effective altruism just about donating money to fight poverty? Does it include a moral obligation to give? How do you talk about it to people who've never heard of it?

In this conversation from 2020, Arden Koehler and 80,000 Hours CEO Ben Todd cover a bunch of topics related to effective altruism.

We also have an article on misconceptions about effective altruism – based on Will MacAskill’s paper The Definition of Effective Altruism – and this episode can act as a companion piece.

Full transcript, related links, and summary of this interview

This episode first broadcast on the regular 80,000 Hours Podcast feed on September 21, 2020. Some related episodes include:

• #75 – Michelle Hutchinson on what people most often ask 80,000 Hours
• Benjamin Todd on varieties of longtermism and things 80,000 Hours might be getting wrong (80k team chat #2)
• Benjamin Todd on what the effective altruism community most needs (80k team chat #4)

Series produced by Keiran Harris.