Brian Ottens wished he could buy his 8-year-old daughter a better iPad. The first-generation one she’d inherited from her great-grandmother didn’t support the game she wanted to play. But Ottens has ...

I've got a new article in the New Yorker this week about the persistent paradox of altruism. It's subscription only, but here's the beginning: The vampire bat emerges from its cave at the darkest hour ...

Among those thanked at the bottom of Dario’s essay was Nick Beckstead, who had presided over effective altruism’s first golden age as the head of Bankman-Fried’s FTX Foundation. Before Bankman-Fried ...

The contemporary effective altruism movement seeks to transform philanthropy in two ways: 1) by directing philanthropy to the most important objectives, and 2) by ensuring that philanthropic dollars ...

February 2 marks the birth of one of the most praised and vilified writers of the past century — Ayn Rand, who sold over 30 million books. This makes it an appropriate time to reconsider her ...

Four years ago, Angela Stimpson agreed to donate a kidney to a complete stranger. "The only thing I knew about my recipient was that she was a female and she lived in Bakersfield, Calif.," Stimpson ...

It is one of the unfortunate truisms of the human condition that there is hardly a good idea, noble impulse, or sound suggestion that can't be (and isn't eventually) adopted and bastardized by zealots ...

Hamilton's rule, introduced in the 1960s, says that altruism—helping others at your own expense—can evolve when the benefits to others, multiplied by how closely related they are to you, outweigh the ...

Altruism is the greatest hidden and apparent ornament. It is a sign of one’s firm belief and strong trust in what the Most Beneficent has provided him. It is a mark of loving one’s brothers, and proof ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about the psychology of leadership, tech and entrepreneurship. Benevolent acts are often motivated by selfish intentions, ...

You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email. While he ran FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried lived beneath his billionaire means. He drove a Toyota Corolla, ...

Nature is full of animals helping each other out. A classic example is meerkat cooperation. When the group is foraging for food, one individual will head to a vantage point and keep watch for ...