if you can select from the intersection, you get options that are pretty good along both axes, pretty much by definition.
Isn’t this an argument for always going for the best of both worlds, and never using a barbell strategy?
a concrete use case might be more illuminating.
This isn’t super concrete (and I’m not if the specific examples are accurate), but for illustrative purposes, what if:
Portable air cleaners score very highly for non-x-risk benefits, and low for x-risk benefits
Interventions which aim to make far-UVC commercially viable look pretty good on both axes
Deploying far-UVC in bunkers scores very highly for x-risk benefits, and very low for non-x-risk benefits
I think a lot of people’s intuition would be that the compromise option is the best one to aim for. Should thinking about fat tails make us prefer one or other of the extremes instead?
Thanks! I’m now unsure what I think.
Isn’t this an argument for always going for the best of both worlds, and never using a barbell strategy?
This isn’t super concrete (and I’m not if the specific examples are accurate), but for illustrative purposes, what if:
Portable air cleaners score very highly for non-x-risk benefits, and low for x-risk benefits
Interventions which aim to make far-UVC commercially viable look pretty good on both axes
Deploying far-UVC in bunkers scores very highly for x-risk benefits, and very low for non-x-risk benefits
I think a lot of people’s intuition would be that the compromise option is the best one to aim for. Should thinking about fat tails make us prefer one or other of the extremes instead?