Sorry, Spock – Life is Not an Algorithm

A possible watershed in the latest attack of the “why can’t we all think like software engineers” movement quietly took place last month when the Hewlett Foundation threw in the towel on a multi-million dollar eight-year investment in the so-called “effective philanthropy” movement.

This philanthropic sideshow has gone by many names – venture philanthropy, effective philanthropy, effective altruism, etc. They all share some common DNA – a belief that emotion is “bad” and should be rooted out of charitable giving decisions; an epicenter in Silicon Valley where “being on the spectrum” is a brag point; and a baldfaced denial of decades of social science showing that emotions are (and will always be) the foundation of most charitable giving.

As always, this issue was recently covered thoroughly and beautifully by Sensei Craver on the Agitator.

Life is not an algorithm. Get over it.