[wanderingstan]

The most basic insight of EA is to be efficient in your altruism.

It’s an extension of the effort years ago for nonprofits to report their management costs: If you want to support cancer research, you don’t want to give it to the charity that uses 60% of funds for marketing, you give it to the charity that sends 90% to quality research.

Similar if your goal is more broad than cancer research, like say you just want fewer children dying. Well then you can to the research and find that mosquito nets are dollar-for-dollar the best use of money for reducing child mortality, better than for example paying for more doctors. (*These are just examples)

The more “famous” conclusions of EA are actually less core to the movement, from what I understand. For example, the advise that one can do the most good by getting a high paying job and donating the surplus.