Reasoned Altruism Maximizes Impact Over Emotional Donation

Key Quotes

"And service is certainly one that like if you go across religions philosophical systems self help books the idea of having a mission for your life having something that you are trying to accomplish that is not just about making your life better but about making other people's lives better is pretty central to a lot of those ideas so I wanted to end on that and uh I'm glad that I did I felt like it was very impactful as a you know reflection on what it means to be a good person and to live a good life."

Scott H. Young explains that he chose to conclude his Foundations program with the topic of service because it represents a universally recognized value across various belief systems and self-help philosophies. Young found this theme to be impactful, serving as a meaningful reflection on living a good life by focusing on contributing to the well-being of others.

"And this is because when we think about altruism we're mostly focusing on that kind of warm glow of feeling good about what we're doing and the philosophy that kind of comes out of effective altruism which i we can talk about how like not everyone universally accepts these ideas so i don't want to say that this is a consensus opinion but the idea being that if we sort of apply the kind of same amount of reasoning and rationality we put into our more self interested actions like which product should i buy which investments should i make how should i manage my own money and apply that same kind of scrutiny to our acts of altruism whether that's volunteering whether that's charity um we sometimes arrive in different places."

Scott H. Young highlights the "paradox of altruism," suggesting that our charitable actions are often driven by emotional satisfaction rather than rational analysis. Young contrasts this with how we approach self-interested decisions, arguing that applying similar critical thinking to altruism could lead to more effective outcomes, even if those outcomes differ from what feels immediately gratifying.

"I mean i i will be the first to admit that i'm a pretty selfish person i feel like if you think about what good i could be doing and what i actually do and i think i don't think i'm like unique in this regard but i think this is a sort of a feature of human nature that we're very much interested in ourselves like i certainly you know don't like oh okay this is all i need to live on and then every single extra dollar i earn goes towards like some super effective charity i mean there's probably some people in the world that are like that magnanimous but they seem to be pretty rare for me and i feel like i'm much more like an ordinary person."

Scott H. Young candidly admits to being a "selfish person," a trait he believes is common human nature, contrasting with the rare individuals who dedicate all their resources to altruistic causes. Young's self-assessment suggests that most people, like himself, prioritize personal needs before extensive charitable giving, indicating a gap between potential good deeds and actual practice.

"And so i think if you are going to give money i don't want to say that you have to give money to those particular causes but i do think it's something to be aware of and to consider because i i'll be honest like before i got introduced to these ideas it just never occurred to me that like you know someone's actually looked and like oh these are the charities that seem to be very effective there's like good research showing that whatever they're doing is working for people versus you know things that sound good but don't actually help."

Scott H. Young emphasizes the importance of researching charitable organizations to ensure donations are effective, drawing from the principles of effective altruism. Young shares that before learning about this approach, he had not considered that charities could be rigorously evaluated for their impact, highlighting that many well-intentioned efforts may not be as helpful as they appear.

"And so i think of service in like kind of a broader sense like generally speaking i would say that a lot of what we're doing even if it is something that you're expected to do or it's something that benefits you in some sort of indirect way is beneficial to other people like i give the example of the job that you do if you are doing it doesn't mean like that you have to work in an ngo or be like a doctor in sub saharan africa in order to like count as doing service with your work because really if you think about it anything you're doing for a living provided that you're you know not deceiving people and you're actually delivering them value that you said you were going to do people wouldn't give you the money if they didn't value the thing that you're providing more than the money they have to exchange it."

Scott H. Young proposes a broad definition of service that includes one's professional work, provided it delivers genuine value to others. Young argues that even self-interested economic activities, like those described by Adam Smith, create societal benefit through the exchange of goods and services. This perspective suggests that service is not limited to purely selfless acts but can encompass the positive impact of one's career.

"And i think the thing that i got from this month is that you know if you know we've been talking about keystone habits for the whole um year but really this is the keystone of keystone habits because it's what holds everything together because when you're thinking about your life not just in terms of like how can i maximize my own personal happiness in which case you know you kind of feel like oh like why bother going above and beyond service and having a mission and having something that feels really meaningful i think that is what kind of unlocks the motivation to take everything else seriously and to take what you're doing seriously and to strive to do better in all those things."

Scott H. Young concludes that service is the "keystone of keystone habits," providing the essential meaning and motivation for all other life pursuits. Young explains that by focusing on a mission and contributing to something beyond personal happiness, individuals are more likely to take their other goals and habits seriously. This perspective suggests that a sense of purpose derived from service is crucial for sustained effort and self-improvement.