[1][page needed] In December 2019, Singer announced the release of a revised tenth anniversary edition, available as a free eBook or audiobook from the website of The Life You Can Save, an organization founded to advance the book's ideas.
Singer points out that as many as 27,000 children die every day from poverty that could be easily and cheaply helped by existing charities (see also List of preventable causes of death).
The author says the reasons are not philosophical, but due to psychological considerations including cognitive dissonance, diffusion of responsibility and the evolutionary history of human ancestors.
For instance, according to Singer, cognitive dissonance theory predicts that humans are rationalizing creatures, making it difficult to change their minds on topics (e.g. charity) that cause any anxiety—unless they are highly motivated to bear it during long contemplation.
[1][page needed] Singer further suggests taking steps to foster a culture of giving (using social networks while staying positive and avoiding the emotion of guilt due to cognitive dissonance).
[1][page needed] In a review for Barnes & Noble, George Scialabba writes, "Some of the most affecting pages in The Life You Can Save describe the low-tech, low-cost programs that have restored sight to a million people blinded by cataracts and have rescued many thousands of women and children from lives blighted by cleft palates or obstetric fistulas".
[5] Scialabba concludes: "For those willing to do more than [the] bare minimum, Singer has worked out a detailed chart specifying how much everyone at every income level should give... Is this unrealistic?
"[5] Economist Paul Collier, writing in The Guardian, gave The Life You Can Save a mixed review, saying that "Singer is surely right" with regards to his arguments, but criticizing the book's focus on private charity and individual giving, rather than government policy.
[6] Christian Barry and Gerhard Øverland (both from the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics) describe in their book review in the Journal of Bioethical Inquiry the widespread acceptance for the notion that "the lives of all people everywhere are of equal fundamental worth when viewed impartially".
[7]: 239 They then wonder why "the affluent do so little, and demand so little of their governments, while remaining confident that they are morally decent people who generally fulfil their duties to others?
[9] The book inspired Cari Tuna and her fiancé Dustin Moskovitz, one of the co-founders of Facebook, to start their own philanthropic foundation, Good Ventures, which is focused on high impact philanthropy and is working in close partnership with a charity evaluator called GiveWell.