Neglecting the Stakes

Abstract

Abstract Chapter 2, “Neglecting the Stakes,” shows that most people underestimate the differences in effectiveness between different ways of doing good. Laypeople think that the most effective charities supporting the global poor are at most twice as effective as the average such charity, but experts estimate them to be 100 times more effective. This underestimation of effectiveness differences leads people to underestimate the importance of finding the most effective ways of doing good. However, teaching them that the effectiveness differences are vast doesn’t change their behavior as much as one might have expected. People are insensitive to the scale or scope of opportunities to help others (scope neglect). Thus, while misconceptions about differences in effectiveness likely reduce the effectiveness of people’s help, the effect of correcting those misconceptions may be somewhat muted.