Module 3: Your Action Plan
This module provides ideas on what you can do starting now to be compassionate nerds. Compassionate people helping in a smart way.
How you donate
Consider donating to an effective charity on a regular basis. Consider viewing charitable giving as an obligation like the rent or gas bill as opposed to a luxury. Given how important charity is and how much good one can do surely it warrants more of a priority then just giving occasionally or giving only spare change.
Think about the moral code you subscribe to, secular or religions and the importance it places no doubt on doing good.
Think of the philosophy of Maimonides who said view the world in perfect balance between good and evil and one good or bad deed could change the balance. This may not be the case in reality but it may be a nice little story to help us do those small good deeds during each day.
Volunteers in Service to America Consider joining or starting your own version because it provides a way to help improve the operational side of charities
80,000 hours
http://80000hours.org/
80,000 hours Is a organization dedicated to helping people find a career where they can do a lot of good and no it does not always mean working for a charity. In fact, you might find you could do more good working for Wall Street and donating your high salary to charity. You may find that doctors do not save as many lives as you thought and you might be able to save more lives elsewhere.
Your Purchases Your Slaves http://slaveryfootprint.org/
Slave labor still exists and the chances are you own something made by it. So find out how many slaves you have working for you and consider changing your spending habits. Just you changing your habits wont free all the slaves but it is a start.
Local Motors http://localmotors.com/
This is an open source car design company that lets members of the pubic submit ideas and for those wanting safer cars on the road this may be a good place to help make that happen.
Working or volunteering for a charitable organization
Help ensure that the programs you run or help on are effective by subjecting them to independent randomized trials with the good and bad data released. Just because something has been done the wrong way for the last 100 years does not mean it can't be done right for the next 100 years.
Assessment
Write a draft action plan that addresses each action above like what charity you might consider giving to and what purchases you might make differently.
Once you have completed this course please apply for the Ama=gi badge. It is ancient Sumerian meaning freedom. It was chosen because in the end this course is about helping people achieve freedom from things like freedom from want freedom from disease freedom from dogma and the status quo,