This is absolutely the case for global health and development. Development is really complicated, and I think EAs tend to vastly overrate just how how certain we are about what works the best.
When I began working full time in the space, I spent about the first six months getting continuously smacked in the face by just how much there is to know, and how little of it I knew.
I think introductory EA courses can do better at getting people to dig deep. For example, I don’t think its unreasonable to have attendees actually go through a CEA by Givewell and discuss the many key assumptions that are made. For a workshop I did recently for a Danish high school talent programme, we created simplified versions which they had no trouble engaging with.
This is absolutely the case for global health and development. Development is really complicated, and I think EAs tend to vastly overrate just how how certain we are about what works the best.
When I began working full time in the space, I spent about the first six months getting continuously smacked in the face by just how much there is to know, and how little of it I knew.
I think introductory EA courses can do better at getting people to dig deep. For example, I don’t think its unreasonable to have attendees actually go through a CEA by Givewell and discuss the many key assumptions that are made. For a workshop I did recently for a Danish high school talent programme, we created simplified versions which they had no trouble engaging with.