I really love the new section in Key Ideas, “Other paths that may turn out to be very promising”. I’ve been concerned that 80K messaging is too narrow and focuses too much on just your priority paths, almost to the point of denigrating other EA careers. I think this section does a great job contextualizing your recommendations and encouraging more diverse exploration, so thanks!
Somewhat related: I’m guessing 80K focuses on a narrower range of priority paths partially because, as an organization, specializing is valuable for its own sake. If there’s a dozen equally impactful areas you could work in, you won’t put equal effort into each area—you’re better off picking a few and specializing, even if the decision is arbitrary, so you can reap returns to scale within the industry by learning, making connections, hiring specialists, and building other field-specific ability.
If you actually think about things this way, I would suggest saying so more explicitly in your Key Ideas, because I didn’t realize it for a long time and it really changes how I think about your recommendations.
I really love the new section in Key Ideas, “Other paths that may turn out to be very promising”. I’ve been concerned that 80K messaging is too narrow and focuses too much on just your priority paths, almost to the point of denigrating other EA careers. I think this section does a great job contextualizing your recommendations and encouraging more diverse exploration, so thanks!
Somewhat related: I’m guessing 80K focuses on a narrower range of priority paths partially because, as an organization, specializing is valuable for its own sake. If there’s a dozen equally impactful areas you could work in, you won’t put equal effort into each area—you’re better off picking a few and specializing, even if the decision is arbitrary, so you can reap returns to scale within the industry by learning, making connections, hiring specialists, and building other field-specific ability.
If you actually think about things this way, I would suggest saying so more explicitly in your Key Ideas, because I didn’t realize it for a long time and it really changes how I think about your recommendations.
(Unrelated to this post, but hopefully helpful)