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MENTAL MODEL · M1914

Effective Altruism

Effective Altruism
BehaviorHigh supportPersonal Development
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Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30

CORE DEFINITION

Doing good should not be based solely on emotion (e.g., feeling sorry for stray dogs), but should use reason and evidence to pursue the greatest good per unit of cost. For example: with the same amount of money, donating to guide dogs helps only one blind person, while donating to trachoma surgery can cure 100 blind people; one should choose the latter.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

- Ruthless kindness: introducing ROI (return on investment) into charity. True goodness requires actuarial calculation, not self-indulgent sentiment.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

An ethical-practical movement that maximizes the impact of good deeds through evidence and reason: not just "doing good," but quantifying "which way of doing good is most effective." The mechanism is causal attribution plus cost-benefit comparison.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Source support: Explicit

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    en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effective_altruismZH · Explicit
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Deontological ethics (deontology) is one of the theories of normative ethics. It holds that the highest moral ethics is based on the action itself and is not influenced by external factors. Unlike utilitarianism, which is also a branch of normative ethics, deontology does not consider consequences. It is sometimes called 'duty-based' or 'rule-based' ethics, emphasizing that the objective basis of moral judgment is the 'good will', valuing the motive of action, and holding that one should do good unconditionally out of duty. A representative figure is Kant, whose theory has had a great influence on later deontological ethics.

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