Wild animals comprise a great majority of all animals, but so far, finding cost-effective interventions has proven to be challenging. While WAIās Theory of Change occurs over a long timeline, it has the potential to establish a self-sustaining, aligned research field that may uncover promising interventions in the future, which could improve the welfare of millions or trillions of animals.
It would be great if you could clarify how you are thinking about effects on soil nematodes, mites, and springtails. I would say there are already interventions increasing āthe welfare of millions or trillions of animalsā. I estimate donating 100 k$ to GiveWellās top charities would decrease the living time of those animals by 23.7 trillion animal-years (= 100*10^3*237*10^6), which is beneficial for my best guess that those animals have negative lives. Relatedly, āwild bugsā also have a negative welfare in Ambitious Impactās (AIMās) deprecated welfare points system, whose development I believe was led by Karolina[1]. My understanding is that fully happy animals would have a welfare of 100.
Did you have the chance to come back to this? Relatedly, I have just published a post where I estimate the total number of neurons and welfare of animal populations, and again conclude that it makes sense to focus on increasing the welfare of soil animals.
Thanks for the update!
It would be great if you could clarify how you are thinking about effects on soil nematodes, mites, and springtails. I would say there are already interventions increasing āthe welfare of millions or trillions of animalsā. I estimate donating 100 k$ to GiveWellās top charities would decrease the living time of those animals by 23.7 trillion animal-years (= 100*10^3*237*10^6), which is beneficial for my best guess that those animals have negative lives. Relatedly, āwild bugsā also have a negative welfare in Ambitious Impactās (AIMās) deprecated welfare points system, whose development I believe was led by Karolina[1]. My understanding is that fully happy animals would have a welfare of 100.
Karolina is the 1st author listed in AIMās post. āAuthors of the research: Karolina Sarek, Joey Savoie, David Mossā.
Hi Vasco! Iām out of the office, but I will address your comment upon my return.
Thanks, Karolina! Here is my updated thinking on effects on soil animals.
Hi Karolina,
Did you have the chance to come back to this? Relatedly, I have just published a post where I estimate the total number of neurons and welfare of animal populations, and again conclude that it makes sense to focus on increasing the welfare of soil animals.