Has the Effective Altruism Movement Lost Focus on Real Problems?

"There's one thing that I have in common with every person in this room. We're all trying really hard to figure out how to save the world."

The speaker, Cat Lavigne, paused for a second, and then she repeated herself. "We're trying to change the world!"

Lavigne was addressing attendees of the Effective Altruism Global conference, which she helped organize at Google's Quad Campus in Mountain View, Calif., the weekend of July 31 to Aug. 2. Effective altruists think that past attempts to do good—by giving to charity or working for nonprofits or government agencies—have been largely ineffective.