site banner
PaperclipPerfector  4mo ago (text post)   3698 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 7, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

4
Top Bottom New Old Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

The Against Malaria Foundation is a pretty solid choice, and is the one that makes up most of my charitable contributions. If you care more about quality than about quantity of life, you might also consider Deworm the World. Their pitch is also refreshingly concrete and not "woke" at all:

More than 913 million children are at risk for parasitic worm infections like soil-transmitted helminths and schistosomiasis.

These infections mainly occur in areas with inadequate sanitation, disproportionately affecting poor communities. Children infected with worms are often too sick or weak to attend school because their body can’t properly absorb nutrients. If left untreated, worm infections lead to anemia, malnourishment, impaired mental and physical development, and severe chronic illnesses.

A safe, effective, and low-cost solution does exist — in the form of a simple pill taken once or twice a year. Regular treatment reduces the spread of the disease and helps children stay in school and live healthier and more productive lives.

Since 2014, Deworm the World has helped deliver over 1.8 billion deworming treatments to children across several geographies – for less than 50 cents per treatment. We work closely with governments to implement high-quality and cost-effective mass deworming programs which are resulting in dramatic reductions in worm prevalence.

Every year, GiveWell publishes a detailed analysis of the cost effectiveness of each charity in a spreadsheet that documents their assumptions and their model. If you care to do so, you can also make a copy of the spreadsheet and plug in your own numbers, though I basically never do that.

But yeah, no reason to give money to a global health charity that has politics you hate. The impact per dollar between the listed global health charities just doesn't vary by all that much.

Deworm the World seems like a great cause. Unfortunately they seem slightly woke.

https://www.evidenceaction.org/insights/challenging-convention-women-lead-at-evidence-action-part-one

"We see that diversity as one of our fundamental strengths", etc...

They spent $12 million on salaries in 2022 and another $574,000 on conferences. The CEO makes $356,738. And someone presumably got paid to make that article. Why didn't they spend that money on deworming instead? After all, they need money, and money = more deworming. Right?

Okay, that's too harsh. I just scrolled through their Twitter feed until I got back to April 2020. No George Floyd, not too much Covid, and not too much woke stuff in general. They seem pretty close with the Gates Foundation/Clinton foundation/Vox crowd. But that's just the milieu they run in. It might be hard to escape.

I'll throw them some shekels, thanks!

I don't think we should rate charities based on how low their overhead costs are. It's like saying we should cut Tim Cook's compensation to boost Apple's profits.

I think we should because it's a reliable signal about values.

Let's say I make $300,000 a year. I'm giving some of my money to a charity. But, wait, the charity's CEO actually makes more than I do! Shouldn't the CEO take a pay cut to support the valuable work of the charity? The CEO is saying HER marginal dollar is worth more than the work of the charity, but MY marginal dollar is worth less. To which I say hmmm....

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats