The argument I find most persuasive for why we should help others is Peter Singer's 'Shallow Pond' thought experiment: you see a child drowning and can easily save them, but this will ruin your expensive new shoes. Are you required to jump in? 🤿 2/13

Nearly everyone thinks you are: the benefit to the other person is so much bigger than the cost to you. The twist: we face situations like this all the time. Rather than buy yourself a new hat, you could spend that money helping others, such as those in absolute poverty 🎩. 3/13

Another frame: if you're fortunate enough to be wealthy, you have a duty to help the less fortunate. If you're reading this, that's probably you. A UK median salary of £31k puts you in the top 2% of *world* income 🪙 4/13 https://howrichami.givingwhatw...

What's more, the reason you have a high income is largely because you were lucky to be born at the right place and time 5/13 https://x.com/MaxCRoser/status...

Another consideration is the research that money has a surprisingly limited impact on happiness. Hence, it may even make you happier if you give it away, rather than spend it on yourself 6/13 https://www.givingwhatwecan.or...

But ... I've known all this for years. So why start now? Well, one thing I used to say to myself and was true until 2019, is that I was a student without a job, so it was barely worth thinking about. 7/13

The other is that I didn't know where to give. I'm a #happiness nerd. My frustration with the standard #effectivealtruism donation advice is that it wasn't really using happiness data, i.e. self-report surveys. This was a key reason was why I started @HappierLivesIns 8/13

However, when this birthday arrived, I realised that my team had now done enough research I couldn't justify to myself delaying donating any longer. 9/13

I'll be giving 10% of my income to @MakeStrongMinds, which treats women and children for depression in Africa. Depression is very bad, therapy is a cheap and effective treatment, and the effects of the treatment last a long time. 10/13

I won’t justify this decision here - this is more of a personal announcement - but will do so in the next couple of months when @HappierLivesIns releases our research into psychotherapy and cash transfers. 11/13

Maybe I'll regret taking the pledge - all the 🎩 I could have had - but, a week later, I'm happy with it. I’ve finally got around to doing something important I should have done years ago. And I no longer feel @PeterSinger is secretly judging me for my masterly inactivity. 😬😬

Maybe, just maybe, my donations will even make other people happier, too. That would be neat. 13/13