Date: Thursday, September 12
Time: 6:30pm-9pm
Location: National Arts Centre (NAC) at 1 Elgin St (rooftop patio if no rain, otherwise the indoor couch lounge)
Subject: Effective Altruism and the Human Mind (see below for short reading)
If there's no rain in the forecast (or it would only start late in the evening) on Thursday then we'll meet at the patio on the roof of the NAC (called the Wood Terrace). If the forecast expects rain during our meetup we’ll meet in the Peter A Herrndorf Place, which is the couch lounge on the Elgin St level of the NAC. It’s straight towards the back from the Elgin St entrance. See below for maps.
The suggesting reading (estimated to take 24 minutes) is this summary of a new book Effective Altruism and the Human Mind: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/D6a9ZccrD8mWZnBn4/effective-altruism-and-the-human-mind-5000-word-summary You can also listen to the summary via the speaker icon under the title of the post or in the Nonlinear Library podcast.
We've be happy for you to join us even if you haven’t done the reading. Since the topic is ultimately human psychology, I expect everyone will be able to participate. We’re unlikely to stay on topic the entire meetup, anyway.
Here is the blurb for the book: “Each year, people donate billions to charities that are but a fraction as impactful as the most effective charities. Why is that? Why are people not helping others more effectively, as proposed by effective altruism? This book seeks to give a psychological explanation, drawing on decades of empirical research. It investigates the role of preferences, norms, and beliefs and shows how intuition can limit impact. The second part of the book shows how we can overcome these obstacles through information campaigns, incentivization techniques, and fundamental value change. It ends with a discussion of how we can use psychology to apply effective altruism in everyday life.”
The full book can be read online (https://academic.oup.com/book/56384) or listened to in the podcast ‘Effective Altruism and the Human Mind’, but only the summary is suggested reading for the meetup.
Here's a map to the rooftop patio of the NAC https://photos.app.goo.gl/3b6nzkYAEjHgrMJh9 (Elgin St is on the left) Here’s a map of the Elgin St level of the NAC, indicating a path from the Elgin St entrance to the couch lounge: https://photos.app.goo.gl/yWB4waKCeyyJRtvR9
Equator Coffee in the NAC will be closed by the time we arrive. I'll try to bring some snacks.
I'll wear a shirt that says 'GiveWell' so you can find us.
You're invited to join us even if we haven't met before or you aren't sure what this effective altruism thing is all about. We'd be happy to meet you!
