Read ten substantive chapters in order or by topic. Use the complete reading and print edition, download the Markdown book or keep private questions in each chapter’s notebook. The self-paced course adds exercises and assessment; reading alone does not certify competence.
Read the book
Ten chapters, with source links, worked examples, questions and a practical path through the method. Reading markers and notes are private to this browser.
- What charitology is
Charitology is the science of doing the most good. It studies charity as a system and treats the question of where generosity should go as a craft that can be learned.
- The charity system
Charity is a system with five stages, from givers to outcomes, joined by feedback that may be incomplete. It proposes a shared craft connecting existing professions. This chapter maps the system and shows where each condition of the Diagnosis acts.
- Depth: from relief to source
Charitology describes every piece of work by where it acts, from relief through repair, prevention and structure to source. This chapter explains the five levels, how to place real work on them, why depth never grades and what this project has not established about the mix.
- Evidence and its grades
Charitology uses evidence labels for conditions and evidence grades for interventions. This chapter explains its two label systems, one for claims about the charity system and one for interventions, how evidence earns each label and how a label can be lost.
- Counterfactuals and neglect
A gift’s real effect is the difference it makes compared with what would have happened anyway. This chapter covers counterfactual reasoning, neglectedness and the scale, neglectedness and tractability framework, and what changes when you look at them from the system’s point of view.
- Comparing the incomparable
Every choice between causes sets an exchange rate between goods that seem impossible to compare. This chapter covers the scales people use, the moral frameworks behind them, how to act under moral uncertainty and how Charitology looks through eight frameworks at once.
- Time
Some good ends when the money stops, and some compounds for generations. This chapter covers how long work takes to pay off and how long it lasts, how to weigh the future against the present, whether to give now or later, and how fast money set aside for charity should move.
- Feedback and voice
When donors pay for services used by others, feedback and shared decisions can help address gaps in what the funder knows. This chapter covers the missing feedback loop, the practices that restore parts of it and what would close it.
- Failure and learning
Sharing unsuccessful results can help a field learn. This chapter covers why failure stays silent, what the silence costs, and the practices that turn failure into shared knowledge, from failure reports to replication, red teams and scored forecasts.
- Becoming a charitologist
Anyone can become a charitologist. This chapter is a practical start, with the Giver’s Checklist, a routine for one gift, how to contribute to Charitology on GitHub and how to take on an Open Problem.
No matching chapters. Try another term.
Take the self-paced course with assessment and practice exercises.