Resources

These resources encourage positivity, depth, nuance, faith, presence… on topics that Go Greater Good believes to be significant.

* Main Recommendations *

  • Know your core values / principles
    “Before a ship sets out for a trip, the captain must first know its destination. If not, it will drift around the sea, bouncing from island to island. Life is this way; if we don’t know who we want to be, then we won’t have a compass to make decisions that will help us get there. [And we will instead, drift with whatever the dominant forces around us are, for better or for worse.] So, what is our compass? How do we decide what kind of person we want to be? Values help us do just this.” — Jewel

+ Core Values
…document by Go Greater Good, combines ideas by various teachers, to help you articulate your core values.

+ NIV Study Bible
Is it worth reading ancient texts, about supremely-principled beings, who have inspired millions of people to also be more principled? You may be surprised.

  • 366 succinct lessons for life
    Self-improve… and defend yourself against widespread yet basic tricks that people use against you (that you shouldn’t in fact use yourself, but be well-aware of)
    …book, by Robert Greene

* Other Recommendations *

Podcasts

  • Meet Daryl Davis (by Chloe Valdary, Theory of Enchantment)
    In addition to being an amazing musician, Daryl’s claim to fame is getting hundreds of members of the KKK to leave the organization. You heard that right. As an African-American who regularly hangs out with klan leaders, Daryl’s very being serves as a fodder for cognitive dissonance — and, as you’ll hear in this episode, cognitive dissonance is what awakens folks to the quest of self-discovery, truth, and enlightenment.
    Listen at: Apple; Spotify; Stitcher; etc.

Videos

  • A Walk to Beautiful (Emmy-award-winning documentary)
    The film (by Mary Olive Smith) tells the personal stories of rural women who make their way to Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, seeking treatment for obstetric fistula, a life-shattering complication of childbirth. The documentary juxtaposes the isolated lives of village women who are outcasts because of their medical condition, with the faraway hospital that offers a miracle after a long and arduous trek—a “walk to beautiful.”
    (Note: this heartbreaking movie provides background info for one of Thomas’ favorite charities, Fistula Foundation.)

  • Poverty, Inc. (documentary) –
    From Toms Shoes to international adoptions, from solar panels to U.S. agricultural subsidies, drawing from over 200 interviews filmed in 20 countries, Poverty, Inc. unearths an uncomfortable side of charity we can no longer ignore.

  • Just Mercy (movie)
    True story. Follows tightly to the book of the same name, also recommended.
    Bryan Stevenson heads to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned or who were not afforded proper representation. One of his first, and most incendiary, cases is that of Walter McMillian, who, in 1987, was sentenced to die for the notorious murder of an 18-year-old girl, despite a preponderance of evidence proving his innocence.

Books

  • A New Earth – by Eckhart Tolle
    Access to the Now is everywhere – in the body, the silence, and the space all around you. These are the keys to enter a state of inner peace.


  • High Conflict – by Amanda Ripley
    When we are baffled by the insanity of the “other side”—in our politics, at work, or at home—it’s because we aren’t seeing how the conflict itself has taken over.

This book offers fascinating case studies; and actionable wisdom. 10/10.
(There is also a discussion guide.)

  • The Precipice – by Toby Ord
    (optimistic and frightening at the same time)
    With the advent of nuclear weapons, humanity entered a new age, where we face existential catastrophes – those from which we could never come back. Since then, these dangers have only multiplied, from climate change to engineered pathogens and artificial intelligence. If we do not act fast to reach a place of safety, it will soon be too late.

Drawing on over a decade of research, The Precipice explores the cutting-edge science behind the risks we face. It puts them in the context of the greater story of humanity: showing how ending these risks is among the most pressing moral issues of our time. And it points the way forward, to the actions and strategies that can safeguard humanity.

  • Discrimination and Disparities – Thomas Sowell
    Discrimination and Disparities challenges believers in such one-factor explanations of economic outcome differences as discrimination, exploitation, or genetics. It is listenable enough for people with no prior knowledge of economics. Yet the empirical evidence with which it backs up its analysis spans the globe and challenges beliefs across the ideological spectrum.

The point of Discrimination and Disparities is not to recommend some particular policy “fix” at the end, but to clarify why so many policy fixes have turned out to be counterproductive, and to expose some seemingly invincible fallacies behind many counterproductive policies. 

  • Don’t Label Me – by Irshad Manji
    “Manji shows us a different way to think about identity; one that is humble, loving, humane, and therefore likely to work for many more people. In a time of rising national polarization and distrust, Don’t Label Me is among the most important books for Americans to read now.” – Jonathan Haidt

    Includes practical, succinct action steps, especially in the final short chapters.

Articles

  • “…The Perfect Rhetorical Fortress” – by Greg Lukianoff
    Greg uses a case study of Abigail Shrier’s book Bad Therapy, to discuss widespread, ridiculous argumentative tactics; and to reject these tactics (rather than endlessly fight your way through them) by simply replying “Noted. Can we please get back to the argument now?” (Skip down to “The Obstacle Course” section and on for the main substance.)

  • Leverage Points – by Donella Meadows
    A beautiful and informative starting point for anyone who wants to “change the system.” It’s an excerpt from the classic on systems – Thinking in Systems.

Favorite Organizations

  • Fistula Foundation
    Tackling extreme poverty: Cure women of untreated childbirth injuries (with an org that is universally agreed to be one of the most impactful per dollar charities on earth).

    This charity is well-worth donating 1% – 10% of your income to if you care about having a positive impact in the world. (Donating even a small amount here has a massive and concrete impact.)
  • Give Directly
    Tackling extreme poverty: Send money straight up to the poorest people on earth (with an org that is universally agreed to be one of the most impactful per dollar charities on earth).

    Note that while giving money straight up, to poor people, in high-income countries has uncertain outcomes as far as I can tell; doing so in low-income counties, full of *extreme* poverty, has plentiful evidence and is even considered a gold standard of impact.

    This charity is well-worth donating 1 – 10% of your income to if you care about having a positive impact in the world. (Donating even a small amount here has a massive and concrete impact.)
  • FIRE
    The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s mission is to defend and sustain the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought — the most essential qualities of liberty. (A principled org that defends free speech in general, no matter what “side” it is coming from.) The ACLU had its time; now this is the premier organization for this topic.

News

“If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you do read it, you’re misinformed.” — Denzel Washington

I think medium to long-form study of certain topics (from multiple perspectives)… is overall better than making sure to stay on top of all the latest daily stressful headlines. I think it’s even valid to just never read the news at all. That said:

  • Reason
    While this is a libertarian-oriented entity (which I personally appreciate), I find them to also be balanced in giving multiple valid perspectives. They accurately state that their reporting “exists outside of the left/right echo chamber.” (Separately, I also generally enjoy the libertarian-oriented podcast Part of the Problem.)

  • All Sides
    Presents information and ideas from different mainstream sides of the political spectrum simultaneously; and does select write-ups themselves. (I don’t look at this site too often, but I think it can be a go-to for anyone who does want to track headline stories from various mainstream sources at the same time.)

Latest update: April 2025
If you have any suggestions, let me know 🙂