The world is a big place. Really big. There are a lot of people in it.
And because there are so many people, it means there are a lot of people who, at this moment needs help.
So what can you do? A lot. That’s a too wide question.
Let’s narrow it down to a very specific question.
Can you save the life of someone in need?
Again, yes, there are lots of ways you could, but also a lot of ways which won’t work. The question is still too wide.
Let’s narrow it down more. Let’s focus on money.
How much money would you need to spend to save the life of someone?
If you ask the effective altruism people, it’s very little, just pay for some malaria nets and vaccines and the chances are that you’ll save someone.
But that is very indirect. It might be a cost effective way to save a life, but it will be very hard to know if your money saved a life or not. Statistically, if you buy enough nets it will.
But if you wanted to feel like you made an impact right now, or within the near future so that your giving feels more direct. And you wanted to know with a high degree of certainty that it had a impact, say within the coming three months.
Now we’re close to narrowing down our question which I’ll dive in to in a coming blog post.
Can I make a direct life saving impact to someone, where my action, with a high degree of probability, leads to the survival of someone who might otherwise not have survived.
What does that cost? And what ways are there to do this.