Saturday, April 3, 2010

Effectiveness

Most altruists get over notions of social exchange. If I think someone else's life is as valuable as mine, I tend to do things for them without the expectation that they repay me.

But that isn't to say there are no expectations. Surely, being appreciated for an act of service is always nice, but that isn't really the kicker.

There is often the expectation that the service does something good. That our sacrifice was not in vein. People rarely do things for themselves that they don't think are going to work. So even if the value of another is mingled with the value of the self, if there is no chance that any intervention will work, action is unlikely.

This is important to keep in mind. As people who are striving to do good, hope is a crucial component. It is not enough to value the other. We must also foster the hopefulness that what we can do can help.

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