Great question! I realize that I really wasn’t clear, and that it probably does exist more in EA than my instinctive impression (also—great links, I hadn’t been familiar with all of them).
What I meant by leverage was more along the lines of “the value of insider’s perspective and the ability to leverage individual networks and skill sets”. In these cases, Nick was able to identify potential cost-effective ways to save lives because of both his training and location, and SACH is able to similarly have a cost-effective program because of their close connections with a hospital. I have a few other examples as well, such as NALA’s WASH on Wheel’s program (which essentially trains a team a plumbers and provides access to clean water to hundreds of program, leveraging the existing infrastructure), and anecdotes I’ve heard about people on the ground being able to provide crucial solutions during the current Israel-Hamas crisis.
I have a sense that the classic EA (and I could very much be strawmanning here) thinks along the lines of: big problems, good solutions, niche area—but doesn’t think about who is best placed to identify or implement even better solutions that can come up because the world is messy.
After thinking about it, the “leverage” I’m referring to is probably more common than I thought, but maybe not so very well defined.
Great question! I realize that I really wasn’t clear, and that it probably does exist more in EA than my instinctive impression (also—great links, I hadn’t been familiar with all of them).
What I meant by leverage was more along the lines of “the value of insider’s perspective and the ability to leverage individual networks and skill sets”. In these cases, Nick was able to identify potential cost-effective ways to save lives because of both his training and location, and SACH is able to similarly have a cost-effective program because of their close connections with a hospital. I have a few other examples as well, such as NALA’s WASH on Wheel’s program (which essentially trains a team a plumbers and provides access to clean water to hundreds of program, leveraging the existing infrastructure), and anecdotes I’ve heard about people on the ground being able to provide crucial solutions during the current Israel-Hamas crisis.
I have a sense that the classic EA (and I could very much be strawmanning here) thinks along the lines of: big problems, good solutions, niche area—but doesn’t think about who is best placed to identify or implement even better solutions that can come up because the world is messy.
After thinking about it, the “leverage” I’m referring to is probably more common than I thought, but maybe not so very well defined.