what would a ‘do the most good-er’ and an ‘Earth optimiser’ disagree about?
Great question!
I’m not sure if there is any direct logical incompatibility between a ‘do the most good-er’ and an ‘Earth optimiser’. Rather, I think the Earth optimiser frames the challenge of doing the most good in a particular way that tends to give greater consideration to collective impact and long run indirect effects than is typical in the EA community.
As an Earth optimiser, I am confident that we can substantially improve on our current cause prioritisation methodology, to better account for long run indirect effects and better maximise collective impact. By modelling the Earth as a complex system, defining top-level systemic goals/preferred outcomes, and working backwards to identify the critical next steps to get there, I expect would lead many of us to revise what we currently consider to be top priority causes.
I would strongly encourage you to write up one of these areas as a cause profile and compare it to existing ones
When it comes to complex systems change causes, I think a substantial amount of up front research is typically required to write up a remotely accurate cause profile, that can be compared meaningfully with direct-impact causes. Complex systems typically seem highly intractable at first glance, but a systems analysis may highlight a set of neglected interventions, which when pursued together, make systems change fairly tractable.
As a good example, I am currently part of the leadership team working on a political systems change research project (set up under EA Geneva). This is a year-long project with a team of (part-time volunteer) researchers. We will do a detailed literary review, a series of events with policy makers, and a series of expert interviews. We hope that this will be enough to evaluate the tractability of this as a cause area, and locate it’s priority in relation to other cause areas.
I’m not sure if there is any direct logical incompatibility between a ‘do the most good-er’ and an ’Earth optimiser
Well, in this case, I’m now struggling to see why it’s worth making a fuss about the terminology if it’s just a framing thing. I’m generally against people introducing new terminology just for the sake of it because it confuses people. It seems like you’re reinventing the wheel and claiming you’ve done something more impressive.
I expect would lead many of us to revise what we currently consider to be top priority causes.
This could be true, and I look forward to seeing the arguments. In a similar vein, I’m more in favour of people arriving with new findings they can argue for, rather than just saying “look, this could be so high impact!” because that applies to loads of things.
Great question!
I’m not sure if there is any direct logical incompatibility between a ‘do the most good-er’ and an ‘Earth optimiser’. Rather, I think the Earth optimiser frames the challenge of doing the most good in a particular way that tends to give greater consideration to collective impact and long run indirect effects than is typical in the EA community.
As an Earth optimiser, I am confident that we can substantially improve on our current cause prioritisation methodology, to better account for long run indirect effects and better maximise collective impact. By modelling the Earth as a complex system, defining top-level systemic goals/preferred outcomes, and working backwards to identify the critical next steps to get there, I expect would lead many of us to revise what we currently consider to be top priority causes.
When it comes to complex systems change causes, I think a substantial amount of up front research is typically required to write up a remotely accurate cause profile, that can be compared meaningfully with direct-impact causes. Complex systems typically seem highly intractable at first glance, but a systems analysis may highlight a set of neglected interventions, which when pursued together, make systems change fairly tractable.
As a good example, I am currently part of the leadership team working on a political systems change research project (set up under EA Geneva). This is a year-long project with a team of (part-time volunteer) researchers. We will do a detailed literary review, a series of events with policy makers, and a series of expert interviews. We hope that this will be enough to evaluate the tractability of this as a cause area, and locate it’s priority in relation to other cause areas.
Well, in this case, I’m now struggling to see why it’s worth making a fuss about the terminology if it’s just a framing thing. I’m generally against people introducing new terminology just for the sake of it because it confuses people. It seems like you’re reinventing the wheel and claiming you’ve done something more impressive.
This could be true, and I look forward to seeing the arguments. In a similar vein, I’m more in favour of people arriving with new findings they can argue for, rather than just saying “look, this could be so high impact!” because that applies to loads of things.