Death In The Shallow Pond: How a Thought Experiment changed how we think about poverty and giving

Abstract

This book tells the story of the rise of effective altruism, a movement that encourages people to donate to charities that are demonstrably effective in improving the lives of others. The book begins by exploring the origins of the movement, tracing it back to the publication of Peter Singer’s 1971 article ‘Famine, Affluence and Morality’, which introduced the now-famous Shallow Pond thought experiment. The Shallow Pond, a simple scenario in which a person walks past a shallow pond and sees a child drowning, is used by Singer to argue that we are morally obliged to help those in need, even when doing so incurs a small personal cost. The author then details how the Shallow Pond argument inspired a movement that has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for charitable causes. The book also explores the many criticisms that have been leveled against effective altruism, including accusations that it is too demanding, that it ignores systemic injustices, and that it is dominated by a narrow band of white, male, and privileged individuals. The book argues that these criticisms are often misplaced, but that the movement does face real challenges in terms of its methodology and impact. Finally, the book considers whether, despite the criticisms, the effective altruism movement represents a real opportunity to address some of the world’s most pressing problems. – AI-generated abstract.