We all had those childhood dreams of making the world a better place, didn't we? So why is it that a lot of people smile at the idea? Some say it is idealistic or even naïve; others say it is too trivial or vague to serve as a goal in life. But how come most of us don't even bother trying when they are grown up? And how could making the world a better -- or indeed a less bad -- place be a trivial matter? Granted, it is hard to say what exactly it means to have a positive impact, and there are many different notions of what counts as positive. What's uncontroversial, though, is that the reduction of involuntary suffering is a very positive, non-trivial and urgent matter indeed. Michael's talk is all about how the application of rationality, critical thinking and scientific approaches can help us figure out how to have the greatest positive impact on the world.

From a very early age, Michael Moor was driven by two passions: music and science. When he was twelve, he gave his first performance as a beatboxer. When he started his studies in clinical medicine at the University of Basel, he developed an interest in figuring out what's useful, important and valuable from a world-at-large perspective. He thus became dedicated to rational altruism. Michael Moor is now 21 years old and can look back on co-founding three organisations: "frei denken uni basel", a students group focused on interdisciplinary exchange and critical thinking; "Giving What We Can Switzerland", the Swiss chapter of an Oxford-based meta-charity that evaluates charities based on cost-effectiveness; and the "Giordano Bruno Stiftung Schweiz", a local chapter of the German foundation, which promotes evolutionary humanism and secular ethics.

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