Biorisk, Recovery from Catastrophe, Epistemic Institutions, Values and Reflective Processes
Many social movements find a lot of opportunity by attempting to influence policy to achieve their goals—what ought we do for longtermist policy? Longtermism can and should remain bi-partisan but there may be many opportunities to pull the rope sideways on policy areas of concern.
We’d like to see a project that attempts to collect a large number of possible longtermist policies that are tractable, explore strategies for pushing these policies, and also use public opinion polling on representative samples to understand which policies are popular. Based on this information, we could then suggest initiatives to try to push for.
Disclaimer: This is just my personal opinion and not the opinion of Rethink Priorities. This project idea was not seen by anyone else at Rethink Priorities prior to posting.
I really like this idea and think that having a global policy network could be valuable over the long term. Particularly if coordinated with other domains of EA work. For instance, I can imagine RT and various other researcher orgs and researchers providing evidence on demand to EAs who are directly embedded within policy production.
If it shows that policies that safeguard the long-term objectives of the top lobbyists in the nation while disregarding others’ preferences are the most popular, do you recommend them as attention-captivating conversation starters so that impartial consideration can be explained one-on-one to support its internalization by regulators by implementing measures to prevent the enactment of these, possible catastrophically risky (codified dystopia for some actors) popular policies, if I understand it correctly?
I love this and your other Longtermism suggestions, thanks for submitting them! Not sure if you saw my below suggestion of a Longtermism Policy Lab—but maybe this is exactly the kind of activity that could fall under such an organisation/programme (within Rethink even)? Likewise for your suggestion of a Lobbying group—by working directly with societal partners (e.g. National Ministries across the world) you could begin implementation directly through experimentation.
I’ve been involved in a similar (successful) project called the ‘Transformative Innovation Policy Consortium (TIPC)’, which works with, for example, the Colombian governement to shape innovation policy towards sustainable and just transformation (as opposed to systems optimisation).
Would love to talk to you about these your ideas for this space if you’re interested. I’m working with the Institutions for Longtermism research platform at Utrecht University & we’re still trying to shape our focus, so there may be some scope for piloting ideas.
JBPDavies, it sounds like you and I should connect as well—I run the Effective Institutions Project and I’d love to learn more about your Institutions for Longtermism research and provide input/ideas as appropriate.
Landscape Analysis: Longtermist Policy
Biorisk, Recovery from Catastrophe, Epistemic Institutions, Values and Reflective Processes
Many social movements find a lot of opportunity by attempting to influence policy to achieve their goals—what ought we do for longtermist policy? Longtermism can and should remain bi-partisan but there may be many opportunities to pull the rope sideways on policy areas of concern.
We’d like to see a project that attempts to collect a large number of possible longtermist policies that are tractable, explore strategies for pushing these policies, and also use public opinion polling on representative samples to understand which policies are popular. Based on this information, we could then suggest initiatives to try to push for.
Disclaimer: This is just my personal opinion and not the opinion of Rethink Priorities. This project idea was not seen by anyone else at Rethink Priorities prior to posting.
I really like this idea and think that having a global policy network could be valuable over the long term. Particularly if coordinated with other domains of EA work. For instance, I can imagine RT and various other researcher orgs and researchers providing evidence on demand to EAs who are directly embedded within policy production.
If it shows that policies that safeguard the long-term objectives of the top lobbyists in the nation while disregarding others’ preferences are the most popular, do you recommend them as attention-captivating conversation starters so that impartial consideration can be explained one-on-one to support its internalization by regulators by implementing measures to prevent the enactment of these, possible catastrophically risky (codified dystopia for some actors) popular policies, if I understand it correctly?
Hi Peter (if I may!),
I love this and your other Longtermism suggestions, thanks for submitting them! Not sure if you saw my below suggestion of a Longtermism Policy Lab—but maybe this is exactly the kind of activity that could fall under such an organisation/programme (within Rethink even)? Likewise for your suggestion of a Lobbying group—by working directly with societal partners (e.g. National Ministries across the world) you could begin implementation directly through experimentation.
I’ve been involved in a similar (successful) project called the ‘Transformative Innovation Policy Consortium (TIPC)’, which works with, for example, the Colombian governement to shape innovation policy towards sustainable and just transformation (as opposed to systems optimisation).
Would love to talk to you about these your ideas for this space if you’re interested. I’m working with the Institutions for Longtermism research platform at Utrecht University & we’re still trying to shape our focus, so there may be some scope for piloting ideas.
JBPDavies, it sounds like you and I should connect as well—I run the Effective Institutions Project and I’d love to learn more about your Institutions for Longtermism research and provide input/ideas as appropriate.
Sounds fantastic—drop me an email at j.b.p.davies@uu.nl and I would love to set up a meeting. In the meantime I’ll dive into EIP’s work!
Sure! Email me at peter@rethinkpriorities.org and I will set up a meeting.