I think the core issue with your idea is that the problems we are interested in are all problems where progress is very difficult, and it’s furthermore very difficult to evaluate the quality of someone’s work, and furthermore it is very hard for them to make progress without lots of guidance and feedback, so you cannot just throw a ton of people at the problem and expect it to work well.
I like the idea of giving more people opportunities though, and I like that Rethink Priorities plays a role in this by trying to hire a lot of people to do research. But we find it requires a lot of mentorship and management for people to do well.
Are you sure that all problems we’re facing are necessarily difficult in this he sort of way a non-expert would be bad at? I don’t have the time right now to search through past bounties, but I remember a number of them involved fairly simple testable theories which would simply take a lot of time and effort, but not expertise.
I can’t think of any problem area where I’d be excited to actively hire a ton of people without vetting or supervision, but I agree that just because I can’t think of one doesn’t mean that one doesn’t exist.
Also, as you and others mention, giving out prizes our bounties could work well if you have an area where you could easily evaluate the quality of a piece of work.
I think the core issue with your idea is that the problems we are interested in are all problems where progress is very difficult, and it’s furthermore very difficult to evaluate the quality of someone’s work, and furthermore it is very hard for them to make progress without lots of guidance and feedback, so you cannot just throw a ton of people at the problem and expect it to work well.
I like the idea of giving more people opportunities though, and I like that Rethink Priorities plays a role in this by trying to hire a lot of people to do research. But we find it requires a lot of mentorship and management for people to do well.
Are you sure that all problems we’re facing are necessarily difficult in this he sort of way a non-expert would be bad at? I don’t have the time right now to search through past bounties, but I remember a number of them involved fairly simple testable theories which would simply take a lot of time and effort, but not expertise.
I can’t think of any problem area where I’d be excited to actively hire a ton of people without vetting or supervision, but I agree that just because I can’t think of one doesn’t mean that one doesn’t exist.
Also, as you and others mention, giving out prizes our bounties could work well if you have an area where you could easily evaluate the quality of a piece of work.