The desire to make a difference is embedded in the human psyche. The effective altruism movement, recently made famous by the exploits of one of its most prominent advocates, taps into this aspect of our nature and offers a clearly defined, logical answer to the core question of which causes and organizations to support. While this confident simplicity gives the movement force, it is also its great shortcoming. EA does well to ask people to think carefully about the way they give, but it is not a one-size-fits-all solution to the challenges that philanthropy seeks to resolve.
