Yeah I totally agree there are useful things to say, though my impression is these kinds of changes are smaller and this kind of advice is more out there already (except the last one).
I think the hope for more radical changes would be giving people more time to mull over the worldview, and maybe introducing people to a general ‘prioritizy’ mindset, that can sometimes payoff a lot (e.g. thinking about what you really want to get out of college and making sure you do).
(On the specifics, I think maths & physics probably trumps economics at A-level, if someone has the option to do both. At undergrad it’s more unclear, but you can go from maths and physics into an econ, compsci or a bio PhD but not vice versa.)
OK I generally agree with your points, including on the specifics—it’s highly relevant that one can go from physics/maths undergrad to econ PhD but not the other way around. Taking that into account maths undergrad actually seems like something pretty good to promote, especially given its ETG potential.
I agree on the potential value from giving people time to mull over the worldview and introducing people to the general mindset at a younger age. One possible (although indirect) way to do so is through promoting philosophy in schools which is something I wrote on a few months ago.
Obviously EA outreach is more direct than general philosophy, but I think the tradeoff is that it is difficult for EA outreach to be consistent for students, making it hard for them to stay engaged. I suppose this could be mitigated by having EA-aligned teachers at certain schools who can try to keep students engaged through talks/societies etc. Indeed I think some people with philosophy degrees who are struggling to find high-impact options may find their comparative advantage in teaching philosophy at prestigious schools such as Eton, and doing what they can to promote EA outside the classroom.
Yeah I totally agree there are useful things to say, though my impression is these kinds of changes are smaller and this kind of advice is more out there already (except the last one).
I think the hope for more radical changes would be giving people more time to mull over the worldview, and maybe introducing people to a general ‘prioritizy’ mindset, that can sometimes payoff a lot (e.g. thinking about what you really want to get out of college and making sure you do).
(On the specifics, I think maths & physics probably trumps economics at A-level, if someone has the option to do both. At undergrad it’s more unclear, but you can go from maths and physics into an econ, compsci or a bio PhD but not vice versa.)
OK I generally agree with your points, including on the specifics—it’s highly relevant that one can go from physics/maths undergrad to econ PhD but not the other way around. Taking that into account maths undergrad actually seems like something pretty good to promote, especially given its ETG potential.
I agree on the potential value from giving people time to mull over the worldview and introducing people to the general mindset at a younger age. One possible (although indirect) way to do so is through promoting philosophy in schools which is something I wrote on a few months ago.
Obviously EA outreach is more direct than general philosophy, but I think the tradeoff is that it is difficult for EA outreach to be consistent for students, making it hard for them to stay engaged. I suppose this could be mitigated by having EA-aligned teachers at certain schools who can try to keep students engaged through talks/societies etc. Indeed I think some people with philosophy degrees who are struggling to find high-impact options may find their comparative advantage in teaching philosophy at prestigious schools such as Eton, and doing what they can to promote EA outside the classroom.